Women's Triple Jump Evolution - 1960 to 1976

Please use the link to share this video elsewhere! Here is a chronological video history of the development of triple jumps in women's skating. Yes I know, a lot of them are cheated and yes there are some falls but I have included all credible attempts that I have found and at the end of the day it's about evolution in technique. Unfortunately I don't have some of the early triples such as Barbi Smith of the USA at 1974 US Nationals and Priscilla Hill's triple loop from 1975 Prague Skate. But this is still pretty comprehensive. Enjoy!

[@bevinboulder5039]

I had no idea so many women had landed (sometimes very badly) triple jumps in that period. I had no idea that Janet Lynne was doing triples even though I watched all those competitions at the time. Thank you for this!

[@nickpilgrim7706]

I just noticed something that for the most part, these skaters choose very powerful music to accent their fabulous jumping and technical ability. I really miss that kind of women's skating.

[@nmclewis2]

I would say that Militano and Morgenstern had the first real "complete" ones but one Lynn's toe loops was a great effort!

[@ToePick]

It's always cool to see skaters take big risks in big competitions. When you're on a stage that big, go big!

[@pepitone201]

Great memory of Christine Errath at 1975 European figure skating championships. Christine was fourth in school figure and came back to win the overall event landing 3 toe/ 2 toe jump combination 😊

[@barbarawilcox182]

Amazing landing position Errath had. Very modern, gave her a big pick back for her 3T-2T combo.

[@npe1]

Brilliant compilation Floskate. On balance I would say the first clean, fully rotated triple in the video was by Melissa Militano followed by Sonja Morgenstern. Of course just after this from 1977 onwards triples were more common in women's skating, this video just misses a young Swiss lady called Denise Biellmann who along with Elena Voderezova completely changed the technical content of ladies skating.

[@floskate]

You're absolutely right. She skated at World's in 1976 but alas I don't have that performance. The earliest I have is 1977 where she tried the triple lutz (fell) but I decided to make '76 the cut off because it was a turning point and marks the last time a woman won a major international competition (Euro's, Worlds, Olympics) without a triple.

[@pianomanofvienna]

A wonderful compilation. By the way, you can hear Eva Pawlik announcing Gaby Seyfert's triple loop and Sonja Morgenstern's triple Salchow. (Olympic Silver Medalist Eva Pawlik was the world's first lady commentator on TV.)

[@MichaelWDupre]

So happy to see this compilation! I remember seeing videos of Janet Lynn trying triple toe loops and triple salchows back in the late 1960s, but was not aware that ladies in the early 1960s had also tried them.

[@paulasfigureskating5612]

floskate, what an awesome compilation of women doing triple jumps! Thank you for sharing! 🙂❤

[@pepitone201]

Great to see you posting again Frazer. Loved 🥰 watching triple jumps from woman from the past . I understand that both Dutch skaters Sjoukje Dijkstra and Joan Haanappel had landed triple jumps but only in practise sessions.( late 1950s/ early 1960s) Carol Heiss was landing triple loops ( rittberger) in practise sessions as well. Thank you for including North Americans Melissa Militano and Kim Alletson in your video. Melissa Militano landing 3 toe at the 1971 US national junior championships as it appears on this video ( she won that event ) . Melissa also reportedly landed a triple toe at the 1970 US championships in the junior event where she placed third overall.

[@seto749]

The Nicolsons have them outdone.

[@maryhughes7642]

Petra Burka may have been credited with the first successful triple jump landed. She skated for Canada

[@barbarawilcox182]

This is amazing! Thank you! The only triples through 1971 that I personally would ratify were Lynn's 3Ts and Militano and Morgenstern's triples. I don't see any of Burka or Moscova's being clean although each is credited by various sources as landing the first triple. But how great to see so many women trying. And how poignant to see so many of these ambitious jumpers become, at best, footnotes in history, though they carried the sport forward.

[@Dylvente]

Thank you for the hard work you put into this video and sharing it with figure skating fans! Seeing this evolution, by the end, it is so satisfying to see the women doing the triple jumps properly and easier to appreciate just how difficult it is to do something that we now take for granted!

[@floskate]

You're very welcome!

[@maryhughes7642]

Driano was an American who represented Italy as a dual citizen . Carlo Fassi coached her.

[@ddjr6673]

What an amazing compilation - wow thank you for your time and effort!

[@emilyhayek1132]

I surely did not k ow female skaters were landing triple jumps way back in the sixties and seventies stunning. Thanks for this compilation

[@3Axel1996]

Oh, by the time 1977-78 came around, you have Denise Biellmann landing the 3T, 3S and a 3Lz or 3Lo.

[@3l3llala13]

I didn't see any clean triples from the 60's women.

[@3Axel1996]

@@3l3llala13 They were starting to learn the jumping techniques to perform a triple, and it's going to take years before skaters will master the triple. You also have to remember that they don't have videotaped recordings to review in order to figure out what to do to improve the jump.

[@sandraskates]

What a great compilation! Thank you for this. I know I was watching skating in the early 70s but my triple jump recollection skates in at Linda Fratianne. Think about the boots back then; they were nowhere near as supportive as they are now. BTW, Elena Voodorazva (sp) also had a great double axel.

[@barkingtree88]

Go, Sonja Morgenstern!! Those were some amazing triples - and skating to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!!

[@nickpilgrim7706]

Frau Mueller loved movie musical showtunes, that's for sure!

[@ddjr6673]

@@nickpilgrim7706 I'll still never forget Katerina Witt's SP to the Muppet Show theme tune!

[@nickpilgrim7706]

@@ddjr6673 Me, either. It was so terrible, campy and unworthy of a skater like Katarina, but completely fabulous at the same time.

[@piramis7615]

@@ddjr6673 cute, for a young girl at that time!

[@barkingtree88]

​@nickpilgrim7706 might have guessed it was one of Jütta Müellers, the setup to the salchow and check-out should have been a giveaway!

[@nickpilgrim7706]

At 12 years of age in 1976, Elena Vodorezova from the Soviet Union was such an exciting free skater. I loved her powerful and dramatic style.

[@3l3llala13]

Some of the women in the early 70s had really solid looking 3toes or 3sals. I guess they just weren't that consistent in competitions. I think Fratianne's claim to fame was that she was the first woman to do two different triples in a LP.

[@jacknjack1969]

Thank you so much for this precious share. 👍👍💯

[@artisticskatingpassion7425]

Excelent video, is there a part 2?

[@Berlinerami81]

Thanks for posting this! Greatly helps my research ❤

[@Dossen_A]

Soviet women became the first triple at the USSR Championship on January 15, 1973 in Rostov-on-Don: Marina Tsertsvadze, 13 years old, from Tbilisi, skated in the first weak group after figures and a short, but sensationally performed clean triple salchow, after that Galina Tairova from Kiev, tried to make a triple jump, but with an error, she was 6th at the end.

[@jakobmax3299]

The first triple that i would classify a real triple would have to be janet lynns from the 1969 us nats. All the others looked to be more than a half rotation short, with this one "only" being slightly two foted and quarter underrotated.

[@piramis7615]

Sonja Morgenstern, Christine Errath and Anett Pötzsch in her later days had the best tripples!

[@kevinhebner6773]

The “late” Anett Pötzsch? I just checked her Wikipedia page and it says she’s still alive.

[@npe1]

Anett is not dead, she's still very much alive!

[@pepitone201]

@@npe1 Ich bin sicher, dass Anett und ihre Familie sehr glücklich sind, dass sie noch lebt. 😀👍🏾

[@piramis7615]

@@pepitone201 who´s dead?

[@pepitone201]

@@piramis7615 The “ late “ Anett Poetzsch was posted . Anett is alive and hopefully doing quite well. 👍

[@Dossen_A]

3:10 commetator said 3S with 2 Loop :) instead of 3T+2T - this was a first combination with triple jump in ladies event. In short program first triple done by Elena Vodorezova 2F+3T at Euro in 1976? Or Linda Fratianne exactly 3S+2R at Worlds 1977

[@martypellow9908]

Thank you Floskate. This is an incredible history. Fascinating. Looks to me as if Sonja has first clean triple salchow. I was also struck by Elena Vodorezova LPs from Europeans and WC. Do have the entire performances? I would love to see them! In particular am also dying to see her 1977 Worlds in Tokyo where she won the LP! Wish there were more videos of this amazing skater

[@nickpilgrim7706]

The only record I have of Elena from Tokyo in 1977 is hearing her distinctive music playing in the background as Linda Fratianne from the USA is being interviewed by Dick Button.

[@martypellow9908]

@@nickpilgrim7706 Thank you Nick! Was it the same music from her 1976 LP?

[@nickpilgrim7706]

@@martypellow9908 Here's the KZbin clip I mentioned. You can hear Elena's music from the 6 minute 10 second mark. Knowing that she used some of the same pieces in 1978 that she did in 1976, it is safe to say it is Vodorezova skating. I saw Elena in exhibition in 1984 at a touring exhibition of Soviet Champions when they came to Melbourne. Her double axels drew gasps from the packed audience, they were so high and impressive. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJe7qH5jasqlj6c

[@martypellow9908]

@@nickpilgrim7706 Thanks Nick! Surprised they weren't watching Vodorezova skate as she ended up winning the LP in Tokyo that year. Lucky you got to see Vodorezova in 1984. I am assuming this was after the Olympics? I'm surprised, I thought she had retired after Sarajevo because she didn't go to Worlds afterwards. Interesting to hear that whenever you saw her she could still do high double axels. I got the impression in Sarajevo LP she didn't really attempt or land any difficult jumps (there is only a partial LP available in which Peggy Fleming says she hadn't completed any jumps). Although in the short program she did do a couple of double axels. They were certainly very high in 1982!

[@Itstonytime77]

They werent pulling in for the rotations

[@will74lsn]

was Burka's 3S underrotated? Just wondering.....

[@will74lsn]

and all the other ones after her

[@floskate]

@@will74lsn the montage is called evolution - they all had to start somewhere. The first truly clean ones were Melissa Militano at 1971 US Nationals (toeloop) and Sonja Morgenstern at 1971 Europeans (salchow).

[@Dossen_A]

Great video, thank you! And also known: Euro 1961 : Helli Sengstschmid, AUT, had landed 3S (marks one 5,0, rest 5,5-5,9!), Jana Mrazkova, CZE, landed 3S, 2nd in free skating (she did it also at Euro 1959 with mistake) Worlds 1973 Christine Errath try 3T?, Worlds 1974 - 3T - fall?,

[@floskate]

I have film of Mrazkova from 1961 and she did not even attempt triple salchow. 2 sal and 2sal-1toe. Unfortunately eye witness accounts can sometimes be wrong. I don't have Helli so I can't verify that. Errath did not do triple toe in 1973 WC but did fall on it in Munich in 1974, although landed it at Europeans as seen in the video.

[@Dossen_A]

​@@floskate I read about Euro 1961 in one of the newspaper articles, of course the author may be wrong, which happened more than once. But here the suspicion is raised by Helli's too high score (up to 5.9), and Jana's 2nd place in FS. Particularly interesting is the case with Jana Mrazkova at Euro 1957, where, after 17th place in the figures, she received as many as 2 total marks in the free program, maybe the reason was at least 2A and even triple?

[@Dossen_A]

@@floskate Errath did not try to do triple toe in 1973 WC? I read one soviet analytic/statistic book, where there was a thorough analysis of the videos, and about ladies WC 1973 it is written there: "skaters placed from 1 to 6 places have performed 82 jumps, incl.: triples- 1, double axel- 9, doubles- 42, single axel- 12, singles and half axel- 18, flying spins - 19, spins - 17" . Who, placed from 1 to 6 places, did/try this only one triple? Lynn?

[@floskate]

@@Dossen_A no one did a triple. I have all the skaters 1 - 14 except Mclean and Iten who were 13th and 14th in the free. Surely neither of those did it and Iten who was top 6 due to figures struggled with even double flip and double lutz. The report is wrong. No one did triple in the top 6 or the top 12 of 14 that I have.

[@Dossen_A]

@@floskate This is sad and once again confirms your words that eyewitnesses can be wrong.

[@janiceshipley1590]

What about Linda Fratianne?

[@lvxmd]

How I did not heard before about Jana MRazkova? I thought Petra Burka was the first woman to land a triple salchow.

[@floskate]

Mrazcova allegedly also tried this jump at the 1959 Europeans in Davos

[@lvxmd]

@@floskate Amazing!

[@piramis7615]

down grade is a not a triple!

[@floskate]

@@piramis7615 that's why the word evolution is in the title. They had to start somewhere!

[@piramis7615]

@@floskate that's right, but I don't want to mix the extremely bad attempts with the good executions.

[@coreyadkins8775]

Forgot triple Lz Denise Biellmann later 70s. Then 3 Axel Midori Ito in later 80s. 😊

[@floskate]

No I didn't forget them. They didn't happen between 1960 and 1976 did they?

[@will74lsn]

a little tiny cheat

[@kevinhebner6773]

Great compilation! Thank you. Wish there were videos of Barbara Smith from the 1975 U.S. Nationals where she did a triple salchow and triple toe-loop. I’ve heard they don’t exist.

[@floskate]

Probably they were recorded by Howard Craker, the videographer for USFS at the time. If it exists it will be at the World Museum in Colorado Springs.

[@bevinboulder5039]

@@floskate If it's there anyone can request to watch it at the museum. I once watch some footage of Dick Button. He was amazing for his time.

[@floskate]

@@bevinboulder5039 that's true as long as it is digitised and they can find it. I have a friend who asked for some things which their records said they had but then couldn't be located.

[@bevinboulder5039]

@@floskate Admittedly, it was over 20 years ago when I did that and things change. 🙃

[@pepitone201]

ABC tv broadcasted Barbara Smith’s 1975 US long program where she landed both triple salchow and triple toe loop in her long. I believe that it was aired during the 1975 US Championships exhibitions broadcast later in the year from the actual 1975 US National broadcast. The late K9henry dog posted the audio portion on a previous you tube video.