Jan Hoffmann (born 26 October 1955) is a German

figure skater 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 m ...

who represented

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in competition. A four-time Olympian, he is the 1980 Olympic silver medalist, the 1974 & 1980

World Champion 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, ...

, and a four-time (1974, 1977–1979) European Champion.

Personal life

Jan Hoffmann was born on 26 October 1955 in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. He is married and has one daughter.

Career

Competitive

Hoffmann's first coach was Annemarie Halbach in

. He later switched to

Jutta Müller Jutta Müller ( Lötzsch; born 13 December 1928) is a German former figure skater and one of the most successful figure skating coaches worldwide. Personal life Jutta Lötzsch was born to Marie Lötzsch (née Prusky) and Emil Lötzsch, the 1 ...

in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today Chemnitz). He represented the former

in competition. He was one of a handful of figure skaters who rotated clockwise, landing on his left foot. At the age of 12, Hoffmann competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics in

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and placed 26th. He finished sixth at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous ci ...

, having ranked fourth in figures and tenth in the free skate. Hoffmann's first gold medal at an ISU Championship came at the 1974 European Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

, where he defeated Sergey Volkov of the Soviet Union and

John Curry John Anthony Curry, (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 European, Olympic and World Champion. He was noted for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating. Early life Curry was ...

of the United Kingdom. At the 1974 World Championships in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, he placed first in figures, second in the short program, and fifth in the free skate. Technically gifted, he landed a triple Lutz in the free skate, the most difficult triple jump done at the time. Finishing ahead of Volkov and Canada's Toller Cranston, he stood atop the world podium for the first time. Later that year, he injured his knee on the

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce ...

. He had surgery on his

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: * Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity * Meniscus (liquid), a curve in the upper surface of liquid contained in an object *Meniscus (optics) A lens is a ...

and subsequently missed the entire 1974–75 season. Hoffmann finished fourth at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

in Innsbruck after placing fourth in figures, ninth in the short program, and fifth in the free skate. At the 1979 European Championships in

, Hoffmann finished ahead of the Soviet Union's Vladimir Kovalyov and the United Kingdom's

Robin Cousins Robin Cousins, MBE (born 17 August 1957) is a British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980. He was the 1980 Olympic champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist (1978–19 ...

to win his fourth continental title. He took bronze behind the same skaters at the 1979 World Championships 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 ...

. In January 1980, Hoffmann placed second to Cousins at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Gothenburg. The

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

took place in February in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsbur ...

. In his fourth Olympics, Hoffmann ranked first in figures, second in the short, and second in the free, winning the silver medal behind Cousins and ahead of

Charles Tickner Charles Frederick Tickner (born November 13, 1953 in Lafayette, California) is an American figure skater. Tickner won the gold medal at the 1978 World Figure Skating Championships, skating to music from Georges Bizet's '' Carmen'' and Jules M ...

of the United States. At these Games, he became the first man to land a triple

lutz jump The Lutz is a figure skating jump, named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater who performed it in 1913. It is a toepick-assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. It is t ...

in the Olympics. He ended his amateur career in March at the 1980 World Championships in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

. Ranked first in figures and second in the next two segments, he finished ahead of Cousins and Tickner and was awarded his second World title.

Post-competitive

Hoffmann studied medicine and became an orthopaedic specialist. He served on the managing board of the

Deutsche Eislauf-Union The German Ice Skating Union (german: Deutsche Eislauf-Union, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals canno ...

and has appeared as a figure skating judge. He judged the ladies' event at the 1994 Winter Olympics and was one of five judges who placed Oksana Baiul ahead of

Nancy Kerrigan Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics ...

. Hoffman also judged the ladies competition at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

and gave his first-place ordinal to

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002), a five-time ...

Results

References

* Scott Hamilton, ''Landing It''. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Jan 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Dresden German male single skaters Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Figure skating judges Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold