Gillis Grafström

Lore & Background

Grafström was born in Stockholm; his younger brother Lars was also a competitive figure skater and Swedish national champion. He competed in the European Championships in 1912 and 1914 and began studying at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in 1912. At the 1914 World Championships, he fell and hit his head, finishing seventh. During World War I, he won the men's competition at the 1917 Nordic Games. At his first Olympics in Antwerp, one of his skates broke, forcing him to buy a new pair—only curly-toed skates were available—yet he still won the gold medal.

He competed in numerous World Championships, including 1914, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, and 1929, winning several of them. In 1922, he fell during compulsory figures but recovered with a strong free program. In 1924, he traveled to Manchester at the last minute and skated in an exhibition before competing; after winning, the Swedish federation refused his request for financial help, leading him to enter future competitions as an individual. He intended to compete in the 1926 World Championships, but a required document was approved by only a narrow 3-2 vote, and he withdrew. Ulrich Salchow was unhappy, and Grafström was banned from competitions and exhibition skating for one year. He continued training and entered the 1928 Winter Olympics with an injured knee, placing second after compulsory figures but winning with his free skate.

At his last Olympics in 1932 in Lake Placid, he collided with a photographer on the ice yet still placed second. He later coached Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie. Grafström was known for his skill in compulsory figures and created more than fifty special figure designs. He invented the Grafström-pirouette and the flying sit spin. From 1925 until his death, he lived in Potsdam, Germany, training on Bornstedter See or at an artificial ice rink in Berlin. He studied architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg and worked as an architect. He collected skating-related graphics, paintings, and sculptures; his wife Cecilie Mendelssohn-Bartholdy continued the collection, which now belongs to the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs. Grafström married in February 1938 and died two months later in Potsdam at age 44 of heart muscle inflammation, though his cause of death has often been reported as blood-poisoning.

Reader's Guide

Gillis Grafström's significance lies in his unprecedented Olympic success: he remains the only male figure skater to have won three individual Olympic gold medals, and with his silver medal in 1932, he is the most successful figure skater in Olympic history. He is also one of the few athletes to have competed in both Summer and Winter Olympic Games, and one of only two to win gold medals at both. His technical contributions include inventing the Grafström-pirouette and the flying sit spin, and he created more than fifty special figure designs. Despite injuries, equipment failures, and a one-year ban, he consistently performed at the highest level. His legacy is preserved through the Grafström collection at the World Figure Skating Museum, a street named after him in Potsdam, and his induction into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976. He also received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1929, shared with skier Sven Utterström.

Did You Know?

• Grafström won three successive Olympic gold medals in men's figure skating (1920, 1924, 1928) and a silver medal in 1932.
• At his first Olympics in Antwerp, one of his skates broke and he had to buy curly-toed skates, yet he still won the gold medal.
• He and Eddie Eagan are the only athletes to have won gold medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.