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

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He won the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

four times and captured two silver medals at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held i ...

, and he also won six European Championship titles. After the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, beginning in 1922, he won the European championships six times, except for 1924, when he did not compete. Also in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, he came in third place at the World Championships. He came in second place at the

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

and 1924 World Championships, and then between 1925 and 1928, won the next four Worlds. He earned two silver medals at the Olympics in 1924 and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

, both behind Swedish skater Gillis Grafström. He defeated Grafström in the

free skating The free skating segment of figure skating, also called the free skate and the long program, is the second of two segments of competitions, skated after the short program. Its duration, across all disciplines, is four minutes for senior skaters ...

portion at the 1924 Olympics. The invention of the inside Axel jump (an Axel jump taking off from an inside edge rather than the normal outside edge) has been credited to Böckl and called the "Böckl jump". After retiring from skating, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and became a coach at the Skating Club of New York. In 1937, he published an illustrated instructional book, ''Willy Boeckl on Figure Skating'', which included descriptions of

compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

and

, but also included chapters on

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 ...

ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

, and carnival (ice show) skating.Hines (2011), p.42 He published a second book in 1940, ''How to Judge Figure Skating'', which was primarily about judging compulsory figures. 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, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

instructors from the

and

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, who met in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

, 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 American Skaters Guild, later the Professional Skaters Guild of America and then the Professional Skaters Association, was the first skating teachers organization in North America. On August 10, 1938, a meeting took place of thirteen prominen ...

). Willy became the first president of the guild; Willie Frick its first vice-president, and Walter Arian, second vice-president. He announced a retirement from coaching in 1944 to work as president of a tire company. Boeckl continued to be involved in skating and lead an ice show tour in Europe in 1953. After retiring, Boeckl moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Following the death of his wife, he returned to Austria, where he died in 1975. He was elected into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located at the Broadmoor Resort in Co ...

in 1977.

Results

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Austrian male single skaters Olympic figure skaters for 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