Ludovika Antje Margareta Jakobsson-Eilers (née Eilers, 25 July 1884 – 1 November 1968) was a German-Finnish figure skater. Competing in

pair skating 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 her husband

Walter Jakobsson Walter Andreas Jakobsson (6 February 1882 – 10 June 1957) was a Finnish figure skater, and the oldest figure skating Olympic champion (at age 38). As a single skater, he won the Finnish national championship in 1910 and 1911. In 1910, he part ...

, she won the gold medal at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

, where she was the only German-born athlete, and became the oldest female figure skating Olympic champion. The pair also earned three world titles, in 1911, 1914 and 1923, and finished second and fifth at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, respectively. Eilers also had some success 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 ...

, winning a bronze medal at the 1911 World Championships.

Early years

Eilers met Jakobsson in 1907 while he was studying engineering in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. They began competing together in 1910 and married in 1911; hence 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 ...

counts their 1910–1911 medals as half-German, half-Finnish, and those after 1911 as Finnish. The couple lived in Berlin until 1916, when they moved to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. There Walter got a job of technical director with

Konecranes Konecranes Oyj (KCI Konecranes prior to 16 March 2007) is a Finnish company, headquartered in Hyvinkää, which specialises in the manufacture and service of cranes and lifting equipment as well as the service of machine tools. The firm produces ...

, a leading manufacturer of

cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname), ...

, while Ludovika starred in a few Finnish silent films.

Results in ladies' singles

Results in pairs with Walter Jakobsson

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobsson, Ludowika 1884 births 1968 deaths Finnish pair skaters German female pair skaters German female single skaters Olympic figure skaters of Finland Figure skaters at the 1920 Summer Olympics Figure skaters at the 1924 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Sportspeople from Potsdam Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Finnish people of German descent German emigrants to Finland Naturalized citizens of Finland