Donald Hunter Gilchrist (January 2, 1922 – March 14, 2017) was a Canadian figure skater. As a

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

with Marlene Smith, he became the 1949

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

silver medallist and a two-time

Canadian national The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

champion (1949–1950). He was a three-time national silver medallist in men's singles.

Personal life

Gilchrist was born on January 2, 1922, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(Trinity) in 1950 and married Christiane Legier in 1952; the couple had three children: Nancy Ann, Donald, and Jean. He died at age 95 on March 14, 2017.

Career

Figure skating

Gilchrist began skating when he joined the

Toronto Skating Club The Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club is a private sport and social club located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club offers a variety of sporting and social programs including aquatics, cricket, croquet, curling, figure skating, fitne ...

in February 1928. Competing in men's singles, he won silver at three consecutive Canadian Championships, from 1940 to 1942. After a partnership with Eleanor O'Meara, he teamed up with Marlene Smith. The pair won two national titles (1949–1950) and silver at the 1949 North American Championships. Gilchrist began judging international skating competitions in 1951. He judged at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

and at multiple

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(1952, 1959, 1964, 1967), and also served as a referee. He was a substitute member of 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, Net ...

(ISU) Single & Pair Skating Technical Committee (from 1953), a main member of the technical committee (1969–1971, 1973–1980), an ISU Council member (1980–1992), and an ISU Honorary Member (from 1992). He was inducted into the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1996.

Other

Gilchrist served as a marksman and captain in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps during the 1940s. He worked for Canada's Department of Defence Production in Washington (1952 to the 1960s), as director general of the Trade Commissioner Service (from 1966), as a vice-president of the Canadian Commercial Corporation, as consul general in Los Angeles (from 1974), and as minister-counsellor at the embassy in the Netherlands (1982–1986).

Competitive highlights

Pairs with Smith

Pairs with O'Meara

Men's singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilchrist, Donald Hunter 1922 births 2017 deaths Canadian male pair skaters Canadian male single skaters Figure skating judges Figure skaters from Toronto 20th-century Canadian people 21st-century Canadian people