Hilda Múdra, née Hildegard Klimpel (1 January 1926 – 22 November 2021), was an Austrian-born Slovak

figure skating 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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Her most notable student was

Ondrej Nepela Ondrej Nepela (22 January 1951 – 2 February 1989) was a Slovak figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia. He was the 1972 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion (1971–73), and a five-time European champion (1969–73). Later in h ...

, the 1972 Olympic champion.

Early life

Múdra was born as Hildegard Klimpel to Paul and Anna Klimpel in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Múdra was coached by Rudolf Kurtzer and Will Petters in Vienna. She trained first in

single skating Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport contested ...

and then

ice dancing 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 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. In the mid-1940s, she toured with an Austrian ice show which visited Czechoslovakia, and then began coaching in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Career

The first of her students to win a medal at the European Championships was

Jana Mrázková Jana Mrázková née Dočekalová (born 20 March 1940) is a Czech former figure skater who competed in ladies' singles for Czechoslovakia. She is the 1961 European Figure Skating Championships, European bronze medalist and appeared at two Winte ...

. Múdra coached

for 15 years, having first met him in February 1958. He would win gold at five European Championships, three World Championships, and the 1972 Winter Olympics. In 2000, he was named Slovak athlete of the 20th century — Múdra accepted the award from the Slovak president,

Rudolf Schuster Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) is a Slovak politician, who served as the second president of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he sou ...

, on behalf of her deceased student. Múdra also worked with

Jozef Sabovčík Jozef (Jumping Joe) Sabovčík (born 4 December 1963) is a Slovak figure skater who competed representing Czechoslovakia. He is the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time European champion (1985 and 1986), and a six-time Czechoslovak national ...

Sanda Dubravčić Sanda Dubravčić-Šimunjak (born 24 August 1964) is a Croatian physician and former figure skater who competed internationally for Yugoslavia. She is the 1981 European silver medalist. Personal life Sanda Dubravčić was born on 24 August 1964 ...

, Agnesa Wlachovská, Charlotte Walter,

Martin Skotnický Martin Skotnický (born 24 August 1947) is a Slovak ice dancing coach and former competitor for Czechoslovakia. With his sister, Diana Skotnická, he is the 1970 Winter Universiade champion and a five-time Czechoslovak national champion (1970– ...

, Marián Filc, Eva Grožajová,

Miroslav Šoška Miroslav Šoška is a Slovak former figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia internationally. He won silver at the 1977 Prague Skate and bronze at the 1978 Rotary Watches International. Šoška competed at five European and two World Champio ...

, Ľudmila Bezáková,

Miljan Begović Miljan Begović (born 19 May 1964) is a Croatian former competitive figure skater. He represented Yugoslavia at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and finished 21st. Begović was also selected for six World Championships (best result: 16th in 1 ...

, and Eva Ďurišinová. In her 80s, she fractured vertebra as a result of a fall, preventing her from returning to the ice, but she continued to coach children from behind the boards in

Dúbravka, Bratislava Dúbravka () is a city borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is located in the north-western part of the city, lying on the slopes of the Devín Carpathians mountains. It is part of the Bratislava IV administrative district. The cit ...

Personal life

She married Slovak manager Jozef Múdry on 26 October 1947 and gave birth to their daughter, Dagmar, in 1949, and to their son, Pavol, in 1950. Her husband died in November 2010. She spoke both Slovak and German. Mudra died on 22 November 2021 at the age of 95 in Bratislava.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudra, Hilda 1926 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Vienna Figure skaters from Bratislava Slovak figure skating coaches Austrian figure skating coaches Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Czechoslovakia Slovak people of Austrian descent Female sports coaches