1961 European Figure Skating Championships

American Sector

The 1961 European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.

The competitions took place from January 26 to 29, 1961 in West Berlin. West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, but the German Skating Association from East Germany organized the championshipshttps://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutscher_Eislauf-Verband. The event took place without the participation of skaters from the Soviet Union not because of a political boycott, but rather because an exceptionally mild winter left the Russian skaters with insufficient ice for practice in their home country. The Soviet team was also withdrawn from the originally planned World Championships for the same reason, but that tournament was subsequently cancelled after Sabena Flight 548.

The defending champions in all four divisions retained their titles. In the pairs competition, however, the champions Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler faced a close battle with Margret Göbl & Franz Ningel, who had defeated them at the West German championships earlier in the season. Göbl & Ningel may have been penalized for including an illegal lift in their program.

In the ladies' event, Sjoukje Dijkstra built up a lead in the compulsory figures that assured her of victory. Her free skating program was described as "exhausting". The stars of the free skating were Helli Sengstschmidt and Jana Mrázková, who both reportedly did triple salchow jumps in their programs.

Alain Giletti likewise assured himself of victory by winning the figures by a large margin. All three medalists in the men's division gave fine free skating performances.