Maribel Vinson

Maribel Yerxa Vinson -Owen ( born October 12, 1911 in Winchester, Massachusetts, † February 15, 1961 in Mountain Kampenhout, Belgium) was an American figure skater and figure skating coach.

Maribel Vinson was the daughter of Thomas and Gertrude Vinson of Winchester, Massachusetts. Both parents were skaters. So Maribel was an honorary member of the Skating Club in Cambridge from their birth. At the age of nine she began to train at Willie Frick in the Boston Arena. At the age of twelve years Vinson was U.S. champion in the juniors. In addition to her athletic career she studied at Radcliffe College.

In the years 1928 to 1937 Maribel Vinson was, with the exception of 1934, nine times U.S. champion in figure skating ladies. To this day she keeps with nine titles the national record together with Michelle Kwan. 1928 and 1929 won Vinson with Thornton Coolidge also the Championships in pair skating, she also managed the 1933 and 1935-1937 with skating partner George Hill. With him, she took part in the World Championships in 1931 and 1936 and at the 1936 Olympic Games, where it has always occupied the fifth place. In a single run Vinson was not equal successful at international level. As a non-Europeans were allowed to participate at the European Championships, she won her only appearance in the 1934 European Championships in Seefeld Bronze behind Sonja Henie and Liselotte Landenbeck. In the period 1928-1934 she participated in five World Cups, and was able to win two medals. In 1928 she was in London World runner-up behind Sonja Henie and 1930 in New York, she won the bronze medal behind Henie and the Canadian Cecil Smith. Vinson also took part in three Olympic Games in a single run. 1928 in St. Moritz, she missed a medal in fourth, 1932 in Lake Placid, it was enough then to win bronze behind Sonja Henie and Fritzi Burger and 1936 in Garmisch -Partenkirchen, she was, as in the pair competition, Fifth.

Even as Vinson was active in sports in his thirties, she became the first sports journalist at the New York Times. After the end of her amateur career, she married Canadian figure skater Guy Owen, with whom she performed as a professional in an ice skating show. After the birth of their children Maribel Yerxa Owen, 1940, and Laurence Rochon Owen, in 1944, returned Vinson -Owen as a figure skating coach at the ice rink back. Her husband died unexpectedly in 1952 at the age of 41 years and so they had to raise their children alone. Later, when their daughters became interested for figure skating, she trained them. As a trainer, Vinson -Owen Tenley Albright led to five national championships and for the first Olympic gold medal in figure skating an American ladies. She also taught Frank Carroll, who himself should be one of the best coaches in the world and later Michelle Kwan and Evan Lysacek has led to numerous successes.

In 1961, Maribel Vinson same daughter won the national pairs figure skating championship with Dudley Richards. In the same tournament also Vinson's younger daughter, 16 -year-old Laurence, the national championship titles won with the ladies. It was the first championship, which was televised and so the family became once great reputation. As a trainer, Maribel Vinson was also part of the U.S. team that was nominated for the World Cup 1961 in Prague, as well as her two daughters, who as reigning champion at Idlewild Airport, now John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the aircraft, a Boeing 707, climbed toward Czechoslovakia. The Sabena Flight 548, a night flight should stop over in Brussels. There, however, the pilot had to take break and new start-up, to try it on a different runway landing approach. Here, the plane crashed on farmland in mountain Kampenhout. All 72 passengers, the crew and a farmer on the ground were killed, including the entire 18- member U.S. team and their 16 relatives. The World Cup in Prague was canceled. The mortal remains of the Vinson - Owen were transferred to the United States and in Story Chapel Columbarium the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, buried. In 1976 Vinson was inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 1994 and a second time with her skating partner George Hill. In 2002, she was also included in the Figure Skating Hall of Fame, 2011 should also be included her two daughters. In her hometown of Winchester, the Vinson -Owen School was named after her.

Results

Single run

Pair of running

( with George Hill )

(*) With Thornton Coolidge

Maribel Vinson -Owen wrote several books about figure skating:

Primer of Figure Skating - McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey House (1938 )
Advanced Figure Skating - McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey House (1940 )
The Fun of Figure Skating - Harper & Brothers (1960 )

Winter Olympic Games 1928 World Figure Skating Championships 1930 World Figure Skating Championships 1934 European Figure Skating Championships Winchester (Massachusetts) Cambridge (Massachusetts) Matthews Arena U. S. Figure Skating Championships 1931 World Figure Skating Championships 1936 World Figure Skating Championships Single skating Liselotte Landbeck Cecil Smith (figure skater) Maribel Owen Laurence Owen Frank Carroll (figure skater) World Figure Skating Hall of Fame List of Olympic medalists in figure skating 1932 World Figure Skating Championships 1934 World Figure Skating Championships Beatrix Loughran Gretchen Merrill Yvonne Sherman Sonya Klopfer Carol Heiss Barbara Roles Peggy Fleming Janet Lynn Dorothy Hamill Elaine Zayak Rosalynn Sumners Tiffany Chin Debi Thomas Jill Trenary Tonya Harding Kristi Yamaguchi Nancy Kerrigan Nicole Bobek Sasha Cohen Kimmie Meissner Mirai Nagasu Alissa Czisny Rachael Flatt Ashley Wagner Gracie Gold Sherwin Badger Peter Kennedy (figure skater) Nancy Ludington Ronald Ludington Vivian Joseph Ronald Joseph Cynthia Kauffman Ronald Kauffman Kenneth Shelley Melissa Militano Mark Militano Randy Gardner (figure skater) Kitty Carruthers Jill Watson Peter Oppegard Todd Sand Jenni Meno John Zimmerman (figure skater)

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