Gillis Grafström

Gillis Grafström (born June 7, 1893, Stockholm, Sweden—died April 14, 1938, Potsdam, Germany) was a Swedish figure skater who won three Olympic gold medals and one silver medal. Considered one of the best skaters of compulsory figures, he was drawn to the sport’s artistic precision rather than the challenges of competition.

(Read Scott Hamilton’s Britannica entry on figure skating.)

Grafström won his first gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, despite breaking a skate and having to use an antiquated curly-toed pair as a replacement. The Antwerp gold medal was followed by a gold in 1924 in Chamonix, France, and a gold in 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where he skated on a swollen knee. At the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, a moment’s confusion over which figure he was to trace left him with the silver medal, losing the gold to Austrian Karl Schäfer.

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A skater who ignored most competitions but the Olympic Games, Grafström was known for his smooth elegance, his perfectly executed routines, and the graceful flow of his skating. He was the first to make the axel a controlled jump, because its inventor, Axel Paulsen, had worn hockey skates when he performed it. He also originated several spins—the flying sit spin and the Grafström spin, a variation of the camel spin. He skated just four times for the world title and won three times (1922, 1924, and 1929).

(Read Scott Hamilton’s Britannica essay on "Training for Olympic Gold.")

In addition to skating, Grafström was an architect, poet, and painter. With his wife he acquired a world-renowned collection of skating art and historical skating artifacts. He was a perfectionist with high aesthetic standards, which he later applied as the coach of Norwegian skating legend Sonja Henie, a three-time Olympic gold medalist.