The

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

is an annual

figure skating competition A figure skating competition is a judged sports competition in figure skating. Types of figure skating competitions International International competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) are governed by the union's rules. ...

sanctioned by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, N ...

in which

figure skaters Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

compete for the title of World Champion. The 1963 competitions for men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance took place from February 28 to March 3 in Cortina d'Ampezzo,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The competition was held in the open-air ice stadium, with events running as late as 1 or 2am, by which time it was very cold. This caused the ice to become hard and brittle, as well as causing discomfort to those in attendance."Arctic Cold Chills World Championships", ''Skating'' magazine, May 1963 Perhaps due to the poor ice conditions, the men's competition was marred by many falls. Both the winner Donald McPherson and second-place finisher

Alain Calmat Alain Calmat, (born 31 August 1940) is a French former competitive figure skater, surgeon, and politician. He is the 1964 Olympic silver medalist, the 1965 World champion, the 1962–1964 European champion, and the 1958 & 1962–1965 Fren ...

fell on triple loop attempts, but neither

Manfred Schnelldorfer Manfred Schnelldorfer (born 2 May 1943) is a German former figure skater. He is the 1964 Olympic champion, the 1964 World champion, and an eight-time German national champion. Personal life Manfred Schnelldorfer was born on 2 May 1943 in Mu ...

nor

Karol Divín Karol "Karcsi" Emil Divín (born Karol Finster; 22 February 1936 – 6 April 2022) was a Slovak figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia. He was the 1960 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time European champion (1958–59), and a two-time Wor ...

, who had been placed 1-2 after the

compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

, performed well in the free skating. Marika Kilius and

Hans-Jürgen Bäumler Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (born 28 January 1942) is a German former pair skater, actor, and Schlager singer. Career Bäumler became famous in pair skating with his skating partner Marika Kilius. Between 1958 and 1964, they won the German nation ...

won the pair competition, although some questioned whether some of their lifts, including a "triple Axel lift" (an Axel lasso lift with 3.5 rotations), were legal under the ISU rules of the time. The Canadian team of Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell had to withdraw after Wilkes suffered a head injury in a fall while posing for press photos. Disaster also struck the American dance team

Yvonne Littlefield Yvonne Littlefield is an American former ice dancer. Skating with Peter Betts, she won the ice dance title at the 1962 United States Figure Skating Championships. She had previously won the Bronze medal at the 1960 U.S. Championships skating ...

and Peter Betts. They placed 9th in the

compulsory dance The compulsory dance (CD), now called the pattern dance, is a part of the figure skating segment of ice dance competitions in which all the competing couples perform the same standardized steps and holds to the music of a specified tempo and gen ...

s, but in the free dance Betts's blade came unscrewed from the boot and they were unable to finish their program. Meanwhile, the defending champions Eva Romanová and

Pavel Roman Pavel Roman (25 January 1943 – 30 January 1972) was a Czech figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia in pair skating and ice dancing with his sister Eva Romanová. As ice dancers, they became four-time World champions (1962–65) and two-t ...

came from behind to retain title after being defeated in the compulsory dances by the British team,

Linda Shearman Linda Shearman is a British former competitive ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1 ...

and Michael Phillips, who had also defeated the Romans at the European Championships earlier that year. Defending champion

Sjoukje Dijkstra Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra (, born 28 January 1942) is a Dutch former competitive figure skater. She is the 1964 Olympic champion in ladies' singles, the 1960 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (1962–1964), five-time Europe ...

also retained her title, building a big lead in the compulsory figures and following it with a good performance in the free skate, in which she now included a double Lutz for the first time. Nicole Hassler, second in the free skate and third overall, had two strong double Axels at the end of her program."Informal Comments on Worlds", ''Skating'' magazine, May 1963 The Japanese competitor Miwa Fukuhara, who finished 6th overall, included a triple salchow in her program.

Results

Men

Judges: * E. Kucharz * J. A. McKechnie *

Zdeněk Fikar Zdeněk Fikar (born 18 May 1926) is a former figure skater. He represented Czechoslovakia at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland and finished 13th. Fikar also competed at one World and six European Championships. His best result, ...

* N. Valdes *

Adolf Walker Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in var ...

* Pamela Peat * Giovanni DeMori * C. Benedict-Stieber * John R. Shoemaker

Ladies

Judges: * Oskar Madl * E. R. S. McLauchlin * Emil Skákala *

Gérard Rodrigues-Henriques Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constit ...

* Theo Klemm * C. Benedict-Stieber * W. Fritz * L. B. Sanderson * Sergei Vasiliev

Pairs

Judges: * W. Malek * E. R. S. McLauchlin *

* N. Valdes * János Zsigmondy *

Elemér Terták Elemér Terták (born 2 November 1918 in Budapest, Hungary; died 8 July 1999 in Budapest) was a Hungarian figure skater who competed in men's singles. He won the bronze medal at the 1934 European Figure Skating Championships, the 1937 European C ...

* W. Fritz * L. B. Sanderson * Sergei Vasiliev

Ice dance

Judges: *

Hans Meixner Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

* J. A. McKechnie * Emil Skákala * Claude Lambert * H. Wollersen *

Mollie Phillips Mollie Doreen Phillips OBE (27 July 1907 – 15 December 1994) was a British figure skater and Olympic judge. She is regarded as a pioneer in the sport. Phillips was the first woman to carry a national flag at the opening ceremony of an Olympic ...

* C. Bernacchi * John R. Shoemaker

References

Sources

* Result List provided by the ISU {{ISU Championships Figure skating World Figure Skating Championships

Sport in Cortina d'Ampezzo International figure skating competitions hosted by Italy February 1963 sports events in Europe March 1963 sports events in Europe