1930 World Figure Skating Championships

Figure skating competition in New York City September 2026 September 2026 1930 World Figure Skating Championships ISU Championship February 3 5 1930 US 1912 New York City, New York, United States U.S. Figure Skating Ice ClubMadison Square Garden Austria Karl Schäfer Norway Sonja Henie France Andrée Brunet / Pierre Brunet 1929 World Championships 1931 World Championships The 1930 World Figure Skating Championships were a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) in which skaters competed for the title of World Champion. The events were held from February 3 to 5 in New York City. They were the first World Championships staged outside Europe and the first in which the men's, ladies' and pairs competitions were held together as one championship. School figures were skated on February 3 and 4 at the Ice Club, the rink of the Skating Club of New York. Free skating took place on February 5 at Madison Square Garden. The same five judges marked all three events. Karl Schäfer of Austria won the men's title. Sonja Henie of Norway won the ladies' title for the fourth time. Andrée Brunet and Pierre Brunet of France won the pairs. Background The championships were organized by the United States Figure Skating Association, now U.S. Figure Skating, with the Skating Club of New York. They were the association's first World Championships and the first of two interwar Worlds held in North America. The other was Montreal in 1932. James R. Hines counted 22 entries: nine from the United States, six from Canada and seven from Europe. He described the European turnout as disappointing. Ocean travel and the onset of the Great Depression made the crossing difficult in either direction. Reigning men's champion Gillis Grafström of Sweden was entered but did not compete. Ladies skated four minutes of free skating and men five. Pairs skated five minutes. Six compulsory figures were drawn from the official list of 41. Time reported that Henie slipped at the start of her free skating at the Garden, recovered and won as expected, then gave an exhibition with Schäfer. J. Lester Madden of Boston fell four times. Medal table USA flagcountry 1 1 0 0 1 2 US 1912 yes 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 CAN 1921 1 0 0 Results Joel B. Liberman of the United States, who judged the competition, published the placements and point totals in the March 1930 issue of Skating, the association's magazine. "Places" are the sum of the five judges' ordinal rankings. The judging panel for all three events was: Norway Birger Børjeson UK H. J. Clarke Austria Julius Edhoffer US 1912 Joel B. Liberman Canada 1921 J. Cecil McDougall Henry W. Howe was the referee. Men thumb|320x320px|Left to right: Nagle, Wrede, Turner, Wilson, Gautschi, Schäfer, Borden, Madden Schäfer received first-place ordinals from every judge. Roger Turner of the United States took silver. Georges Gautschi of Switzerland won bronze. Rank Name Places 1 Austria Karl Schäfer 5 2 US 1912 Roger Turner 11 3 Switzerland Georges Gautschi 19 4 Canada 1921 Montgomery Wilson 20 5 Austria Ludwig Wrede 20 6 US 1912 Gail Borden 32 7 US 1912 Lester Madden 35 8 US 1912 William Nagle 38 Ladies thumb|320x320px|Left to right: Wilson, Davis, Brunner, Smith, Vinson, Henie Henie received first-place ordinals from every judge. Cecil Smith of Canada was second. Maribel Vinson of the United States won bronze. Rank Name Places 1 Norway Sonja Henie 5 2 Canada 1921 Cecil Smith 12 3 US 1912 Maribel Vinson 16 4 Canada 1921 Constance Wilson-Samuel 19 5 Austria Melitta Brunner 23 6 US 1912 Suzanne Davis 30 Pairs The Brunets won with 6.5 places. Melitta Brunner and Ludwig Wrede of Austria took silver. Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger of the United States won bronze. Rank Name Places 1 France Andrée Brunet / Pierre Brunet 6.5 2 Austria Melitta Brunner / Ludwig Wrede 13.5 3 US 1912 Beatrix Loughran / Sherwin Badger 16 4 Canada 1921 Constance Wilson-Samuel / Montgomery Wilson 21 5 Canada 1921 Isobel Rogers / Melville Rogers 25.5 6 US 1912 Theresa Weld / Nathaniel Niles 30.5 7 Canada 1921 Maude Smith / Jack Eastwood 32.5 8 US 1912 Edith Secord / Joseph Savage 34.5 References Liberman Joel B. March 1930 The World's Championships for 1930 https://skatingmagazine.usfigureskating.org/article/Skating_193003_01 Skating U.S. Figure Skating 0037-6132 September 4, 2026 Schwindt Troy February 2021 Worlds, Olympics Come to America https://skatingmagazine.usfigureskating.org/article/Skating_202102_04 Skating U.S. Figure Skating September 4, 2026 Sport: Winter https://time.com/archive/6744282/sport-winter/ Time February 17, 1930 September 4, 2026 Hines James R. The Golden Age of American Skating https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/302.pdf Journal of Olympic History International Society of Olympic Historians September 4, 2026 History of the ISU Figure Skating World Championships https://www.prague2026.org/en/history/ ISU World Figure Skating Championships Prague 2026 September 4, 2026 Category:World Figure Skating Championships World Figure Skating Championships Category:International figure skating competitions hosted by the United States World Figure Skating Championships World Figure Skating Championships World Figure Skating Championships Category:1930 in New York City Category:Sports competitions in New York City Category:International sports competitions in New York (state) Category:Events at Madison Square Garden