Willy Böckl (27 January 1893 – 22 April 1975) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n figure skater. He won 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 men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

four times and captured two silver medals 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 ...

. After retiring from skating, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and became a coach. In 1938, Willy Boeckl (the spelling was changed sometime after he arrived in the

) was one of thirteen prominent

figure skating 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 m ...

instructors from the

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, who met in Lake Placid, New York for the purpose of forming an association of

instructors. This distinguished group became known as the American Skaters Guild (the name was later changed to the Professional Skaters Guild of America in 1950, and again to the current name of the

Professional Skaters Association The Professional Skaters Association International is the largest figure skating coaches association in the world. The PSA was founded on August 10, 1938, in Lake Placid, New York, as the American Skaters Guild, just two years (1936) after the Ice ...

). Willy became the first president of the guild; Willie Frick its first vice-president, and Walter Arian, second vice-president.PS Magazine, 50th Anniversary issue, History of the Professional Skaters Guild of America, January, 1988

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Austrian male single skaters Olympic figure skaters of Austria Figure skaters at the 1924 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Austria Sportspeople from Klagenfurt 1893 births 1975 deaths Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Winter Olympics {{Austria-figure-skater-stub