Fritzi Burger
| Fritzi Burger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Friederike "Fritzi" Burger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |
 Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
6 June 1910 Vienna, Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died |
16 February 1999 (aged 88) Vienna, Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
.svg.png){kind=icon}
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Austria
| ||
| Figure skating | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1928 St. Moritz | Ladies' singles |
| | 1932 Lake Placid | Ladies' singles |
Friederike "Fritzi" Burger (6 June 1910, Vienna, Austria – 16 February 1999, Vienna, Austria) was an Austrian figure skater competitive in the late 1920s and early 1930s. She was Jewish.[1]
Career
She won the first-ever contested European Championships, held in 1930. Sonja Henie, who held a monopoly in women's figure skating at the time, was not present at this championship and Burger never defeated her in competition. She placed second behind Henie at the 1928 and 1932 Winter Olympics, and in the 1929 and 1932 World Championships.
After the 1932 Olympics, Burger ended her skating career and went to London, where in 1935 she married Shinkichi Nishikawa, a grandson of the Japanese pearl tycoon Kokichi Mikimoto.[2] She returned with her husband to Vienna, where she gave birth to her son in the summer of 1937, just before Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany.
In the 1990s, living in the United States, she was interviewed for several documentaries on the history of figure skating.
Results
| Event | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 2nd | 2nd | ||||||
| World Championships | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | ||||
| European Championships | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
| Austrian Championships | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
Quotes
- "I had two husbands. She even beat me at that. She had three." – Fritzi Burger speaking of Sonja Henie, in a 1994 interview.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : with a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871.
- ↑ "Milestones, Aug. 19, 1935". Time. August 19, 1935. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ↑ ESPN 1928 sports history, accessed July 20, 2006.
External links
- Picture of Fritzi Burger
- New York Times topics: In the Fading Light Of the Brilliant Henie
- Jews in sports – Burger, Fritzi
- Preface to "Searching for Fritzi"
- Reviews of "Searching for Fritzi," 1999
Book
- Carol Bergman (1999). Searching for Fritzi. Mediacs. ISBN 0-9673134-0-6.