Sonya Klopfer (married name: Dunfield, born December 26, 1934) is an American former competitive

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 is a two-time World medalist ( bronze in 1951, silver in 1952) and the 1951 U.S. national champion.

Personal life

Klopfer was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was named after

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

. She married Canadian figure skater

Peter Dunfield Peter Dunfield (c. 1931 – May 25, 2014) was a Canadian figure skater and coach. He competed in four skating, winning the 1949 North American silver medal, and single skating. He is best known for coaching Elizabeth Manley to the 1988 Olympi ...

, with whom she had two sons.

Career

Klopfer won silver on the senior level at the 1950 U.S. Championships. She was then sent to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, England to compete at her first

World Championships 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 finished fifth. In 1951, Klopfer was awarded the gold medal at the U.S. Championships. Having won at age 15, she was the youngest U.S. senior ladies' champion until

Tara Lipinski Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...

won in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

at age 14. Klopfer obtained the bronze medal in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

at the 1951 World Championships, standing on the podium with

Jeannette Altwegg Jeannette Eleanor Wirz CBE (née Altwegg; 8 September 1930 – 18 June 2021) was a British figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She was the 1952 Olympic champion, the 1948 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1951 World champion, and a ...

and

Jacqueline du Bief Jacqueline du Bief (born 4 December 1930) is a French retired figure skater who competed mainly in single skating. She is the 1952 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1952 World champion, a three-time European medalist, and a six-time French national ...

. In February 1952, Klopfer competed at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway and finished fourth at the event. Her final competition was the 1952 World Championships in Paris, France. She won silver behind du Bief and then retired from competition. From the early 1960s, Klopfer coached with her husband in New York City at the Sky Rink. When the rink closed around 1983, they moved to the

Gloucester Skating Club The Gloucester Skating Club is a non-profit skating club in Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The club has been serving skaters since 1971. The club is currently one of the sixth largest clubs in Canada with an active membership of more than 1,100 ...

Orleans, Ontario Orleans (; French: ; officially and in French OrléansThe suburb is called ''Orléans'' (with an accent) in French, but is commonly called ''Orleans'' (no accent) in English. The official name in English was changed from ''Orleans'' to ''Orléa ...

. Her students included

Dorothy Hamill Dorothy Stuart Hamill (born July 26, 1956) is a retired American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion and 1976 World champion in ladies' singles. Early life Hamill was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Chalmers and Carol Hamill. Her fat ...

Elizabeth Manley Elizabeth Ann Manley, CM (born August 7, 1965) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1988 Olympic silver medallist, the 1988 World silver medalist and a three-time Canadian national champion. Early life and training Manley ...

, Scott Smith, and Charlene Wong (from 1986 to 1990). She was inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the Professional Skaters Association' Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005.

Results

References

Skatabase: 1950s Worlds Ladies

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klopfer, Sonya American female single skaters Figure skaters at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of the United States American figure skating coaches 1934 births Living people World Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from New York City Female sports coaches 21st-century American women