Maribel Yerxa Vinson-Owen (née Vinson; October 12, 1911 – February 15, 1961) was an American

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 me ...

and coach. She competed in the disciplines of ladies' singles and

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 ...

. As a single skater, she was the 1932 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World medalist (1928 silver, 1930 bronze), the 1937

North American champion The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developme ...

, and a nine-time U.S. national champion. As a pair skater, she was the 1935 North American champion and four-time national champion with George Hill. She also won two national titles with Thornton Coolidge. She was the first female sportswriter at The New York Times, and continued competing and winning medals while working as a full-time reporter. Vinson-Owen is tied with Michelle Kwan for the record in U.S. ladies' figure skating titles.

Personal life

Maribel Vinson was the daughter of Thomas and Gertrude Vinson of Winchester, Massachusetts. Both of her parents were figure skaters and Maribel was made an honorary member of the Cambridge Skating Club at birth. A good student, Vinson studied at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

, graduating in 1933, all the while pursuing an interest in ice skating. She married Canadian skater Guy Owen and they had two daughters, Maribel Yerxa Owen (1940) and Laurence Rochon Owen (1944). They divorced in 1949, and Guy Owen died three years later at age 38. Following her father's death, also in 1952, she and her daughters moved back east to Winchester and lived with her mother. In February 1961, Maribel Vinson-Owen was killed along with both daughters in the

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Bru ...

crash in Belgium.

Competitive career

Vinson began to take lessons with coach Willie Frick at the Boston Arena at the age of nine. She won the U.S. junior ladies' title at the age of 12. From 1928 to 1937, Vinson won the women's singles title at the U.S. Championships every year except for 1934. She also teamed up with Thornton L. Coolidge to win the U.S. pairs' title in 1928 and 1929, and with George E. B. Hill to win four titles in 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. At the

1932 Winter Olympic Games The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

in Lake Placid, New York, Vinson earned the bronze medal behind the Norwegian champion Sonja Henie and the Austrian runner up,

Fritzi Burger Friederike "Fritzi" Burger (6 June 1910 – 16 February 1999) was an Austrian figure skater. She was a two-time Olympic silver medalist (1928, 1932), a four-time World medalist (silver in 1929 and 1932, bronze in 1928 and 1931), the 1930 European ...

. While still competing, in the 1930s, Vinson became the first woman sportswriter at the New York Times newspaper. Following her retirement from amateur ice skating, Vinson toured professionally with her husband Guy Owen in shows.

Coaching career

Following the birth of her two daughters, Vinson-Owen began coaching in Berkeley, California. She divorced Owen in 1949 and after her father's death in 1952, she lived in her native Winchester, Massachusetts, and coached at rinks in the Boston area. Her daughters developed a love for ice skating and she trained them in the sport. Vinson-Owen coached

Tenley Albright Tenley Emma Albright (born July 18, 1935) is an American former figure skater and surgeon. She is the 1956 Olympic champion, the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, the 1953 and 1955 World Champion, the 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and the ...

to five U.S. titles and then to the United States' first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal in ladies' singles. She also taught Frank Carroll, who himself went on to be one of America's top skating instructors, coaching Michelle Kwan to her numerous world and national titles and Evan Lysacek to his Olympic gold medal. During her lifetime, Vinson-Owen authored several books on her sport: * ''Primer of Figure Skating'' – McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey House (1938) * ''Advanced Figure Skating'' – McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey House (1940) * ''The Fun of Figure Skating'' – Harper & Brothers (1960) At the 1961 U.S. Championships, her daughter and namesake, Maribel, won the national

title with partner Dudley S. Richards, while her youngest daughter, 16-year-old Laurence, won the ladies' single title. It was the first time CBS broadcast the U.S. national championships on television and the Owen family became instant celebrities.

Plane crash

Vinson-Owen, as a coach, and her two daughters, as competitors, were all part of the United States team scheduled to appear at the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. They boarded

at New York City's Idlewild International Airport along with the rest of the American team. The overnight flight had a stopover scheduled for

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and on its arrival in the clear mid-morning of February 15, the captain had to abort the approach and circle around for a second attempt to land on a different runway. The plane, a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

, never made it back to the airport; instead, it plunged into the wooded farmland of the village of

Berg, Belgium Berg is a sub-municipality of Kampenhout in the province Flemish Brabant. It is the second-largest borough in terms of both area and population (after Kampenhout). South of Berg is the nature reserve " Torfbroek."'{{Cite web, url=https://www.kampe ...

, taking the lives of all 72 passengers and crew plus a farmer at work in his fields. All 18 members of the American figure skating team plus 16 of their relatives, friends, and coaches were among the dead. The 1961 World Championships were canceled. The remains of Vinson-Owen and her daughters were brought home for interment in the Story Chapel Columbarium at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Legacy

Vinson-Owen was inducted into the

U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. To be inducted into it is consi ...

three times – in 1976 as a singles' skater, in 1994 with George E.B. Hill in the pairs' category, and in 2011 as a coach for the 1961 World Team. In 2001, she was inducted to the inaugural class of the Professional Skaters' Association Coaches Hall of Fame, which included the five coaches that perished beside her. Professional Skaters Association In 2002, she was inducted in the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Her daughters were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2011. In Winchester, the Vinson-Owen elementary school was named in her and her daughters' honor.

Competitive highlights

Single skating

Pair skating with Hill

Pair skating with Coolidge

References

* *

External links

*
Maribel Vinson Owen
at U.S. Figure Skating

at About.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinson, Maribel 1911 births 1961 deaths American female single skaters American female pair skaters American figure skating coaches Figure skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in figure skating Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Radcliffe College alumni Olympic medalists in figure skating People from Winchester, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics Accidental deaths in Belgium Female sports coaches American sportswriters American women journalists Women sports journalists American women sportswriters Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1961 Sportswriters from Massachusetts 20th-century American women