Suzanne Morrow Francis or Dr. Suzanne Morrow Francis (December 14, 1930 – June 11, 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 a Veterinarian. She competed in Ladies' Singles in the 1948 and

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

. Between 1947 and 1948, Francis competed in Pairs Mixed competitions with Canadian figure skater

Wallace Diestelmeyer Wallace William "Wally" Diestelmeyer (July 14, 1926 – December 23, 1999) was a Canadian figure skater. He competed in pair skating with Suzanne Morrow. The couple won the bronze medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics and the 1948 World Figu ...

. Together they won the bronze medal at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

and the

1948 World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. The 1948 competitions for men, ladies, and pair skatin ...

. They were the first pair team to perform the death spiral one-handed, with the man holding the woman in position with one hand, at the 1948 Olympic Games.

Life

Competing in Ladies' Singles, Suzanne Morrow Francis came in 14th at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics but ended up in 6th place at the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics. In 1952, Francis also earned her degree in

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

from the Ontario Veterinary College located at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. She retired from competition in 1953 but did not sever ties with figure skating. While working as a

Veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

, Francis also continued to serve as a figure skating judge and has been for over fifty years. Additionally, she planned to work to work with the Peterborough Figure Skating Club. Also, she was included in the top six women skaters in the world five years prior to when she had retired. For a time, Francis shared a clinic with Dr. Edith Williams, the second Canadian woman to earn a degree as a veterinarian. During that time, she also served as an All Breed dog show judge as part of the

Canadian Kennel Club The Canadian Kennel Club (or CKC), founded in 1888 and chartered under the Animal Purebred Act, is one of the national kennel clubs of Canada. It maintains breed registries services for those purebred dogs approved for its control by Agriculture ...

. She has always loved dogs and would not turn away from any animal that was needed of care. It did not matter where she was she always had a dog by her side. Her favourite dog was a German Shepherd. Other than the time she went to College in Guelph for Veterinarian School her longest time she spent in school was two months because figure skating took up the majority of her time. As well, because of this she mostly relied on tutors to get the help she needed to get through school. At the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Francis took the Judge's Oath, the first woman to do so at the Winter Olympics. In 1992, she was inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame together with Diestelmeyer. She continued working as a veterinarian until retirement in 1995.

Francis' Figure Skating Records

Ladies singles Pairs Mixed with

Ice dance with

References

External links

IOC 1988 Winter Olympics (shown as Suzanna Morrow-Francis)Wendl, Karel. "The Olympic Oath - A Brief History" ''Citius, Altius, Fortius'' (''Journal of Olympic History'' since 1997). Winter 1995. pp. 4,5.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrow, Suzanne 1930 births 2006 deaths Canadian female single skaters Canadian female pair skaters Canadian female ice dancers Canadian veterinarians Figure skaters from Toronto Figure skaters at the 1948 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic figure skaters of Canada Olympic medalists in figure skating Olympic officials World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics Women veterinarians Oath takers at the Olympic Games