Piotr Jan Szczypa, now known as Peter Szczypa (born 19 April 1948) is a former pair skater who competed for
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
Personal life
Szczypa was born on 19 April 1948 in
Siemianowice Śląskie
Siemianowice Śląskie (; ; ) also known as Siemianowice is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice, in the core of the Metropolis GZM - a metropolis with a population of 2 million people and is located in the Silesian Highlands, ...
. His sister, Joanna Szczypa, is also a skating coach.
Career
As a pair skater, Szczypa won ten Polish national titles and competed at ten European and five World Championships as well as at the Olympic Winter Games in
Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
in 1968. Besides his figure skating career he studied international economics and sports. In 1979 he moved to
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
where he lived for seven years before moving to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
in 1986.
Peter Szczypa coached Claudia Leistner when she took the gold medal at the 1989 European Championships and silver at the 1989 Worlds. Since the 1990s, he is one of Germany's most successful ladies' figure skating coaches. Based in
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
, Szczypa coached four-time German champion
Sarah Hecken
Sarah Stefanie Hecken (born 27 August 1993) is a German retired figure skater. She is a four-time German national champion (2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013) and has won twelve senior international medals, including six gold. She has placed as high as ...
at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. He was also the coach of
Nathalie Weinzierl
Nathalie Weinzierl (born 8 April 1994) is a former competitive German figure skater. She is a two-time German national champion (2014, 2017) and has won eleven senior international medals, including gold at the Bavarian Open, Dragon Trophy, and ...
who placed 9th at the 2013 European Championships. He has also coached Kristina Isaev and Jonathan Hess.