Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Robertson (September 25, 1937 – February 4, 2000) 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 ...

who was best known for his

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

ability. He won the silver medal at the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( lld, Anpezo 1956 or ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from ...

, became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic medalists. He twice won the silver at the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ...

. He retired from skating after the 1956 U.S. Championships, where he was nearly disqualified after he was accused by the German Figure Skating Federation for excessive expenses on a European tour. His father, Albert Robertson, a naval architect, accused Hayes Jenkins of trying to disqualify his son. After a huge fight with the U.S. Figure Skating Federation, Robertson was not disqualified after he lost to Jenkins and retired from competitive figure skating and signed a two-year contract with the

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

for $100,000. In the 1950s, he had a long-term relationship with

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...

,DiStefano, Blase
Fab Tab
OutSmart Magazine who also helped fund his amateur career. Robertson was coached by

Gustave Lussi Gustave François Lussi (June 2, 1898 – June 23, 1993) was a figure skating coach. His students include many champions, such as Dick Button, Tenley Albright, Maria Jelinek / Otto Jelinek, Donald Jackson, Alena Vrzáňová, Ronald Robertson, Ron ...

. Robertson's skating career was also well known on television. He appeared on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' in 1957, and his fast forward upright spin was described as being "faster than an electric fan." He also appeared as a featured guest on ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

'' that year. After leaving skating to run a small hotel which he owned with his partner, Robertson was persuaded by Ted Wilson, a rink designer and manager in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, to return to the ice and teach as a guest coach. Robertson, with former Japanese champion Sashi Kuchiki, made annual one-month trips to Hong Kong for 10 years teaching at Cityplaza Ice Palace on

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

. Robertson was an extremely popular coach during this period and made a lasting impression with his skills and kindness. During the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, Robertson appeared as the main attraction for

Dick Button Richard Totten Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating analyst. He is a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive World champion (1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to ha ...

's Ice Travaganza show. Ronnie Robertson died on February 4, 2000 at a hospital in Fountain Valley, California from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 62.

Results

* 1973

World Professional Figure Skating Championships The World Professional Figure Skating Championships, often referred to as Landover, was an elite made-for-TV figure skating competition. It was created by Dick Button, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, through his production company Candid Productio ...

– 1st

References

External links

Skatabase: 1950s Olympics Men's Results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Ronald American male single skaters LGBT figure skaters 1937 births 2000 deaths Gay sportsmen American LGBT sportspeople LGBT people from Pennsylvania Olympic medalists in figure skating Olympic silver medalists for the United States in figure skating Figure skaters at the 1956 Winter Olympics People from Brackenridge, Pennsylvania People from Fountain Valley, California World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics AIDS-related deaths in California 20th-century LGBT people