Barbara Ann Scott | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Barbara-Ann Scott - March 1946
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
May 9, 1928|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | September 30, 2012 Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, Nassau County, Florida, U.S. |
(aged 84)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse(s) | Thomas Van Dyke King (m. 1955–2012; her death) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 2 in (157 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former coach | Otto Gold Sheldon Galbraith |
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Retired | 1948 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Olympic medal record | ||
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Women's figure skating | ||
Representing Canada | ||
1948 St. Moritz | Singles |
Barbara Ann Scott OC OOnt (May 9, 1928 – September 30, 2012) was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion (1944–46, 48) in ladies' singles. Known as "Canada's Sweetheart", she is the only Canadian to have won the Olympic ladies' singles gold medal, the first North American to have won three major titles in one year and the only Canadian to have won the European Championship (1947–48). During her forties she was rated among the top equestrians in North America. She received many honours and accolades, including being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and a member of the Order of Ontario in 2008.
Scott was born on May 9, 1928, the youngest of three children born to Canadian Army Colonel Clyde Rutherford Scott and Mary (née Purves) of Sandy Hill, Ottawa. She began skating at the age of seven with the Minto Skating Club, coached by Otto Gold and Sheldon Galbraith. At age nine, Scott switched from regular schooling to tutoring 2 1/2 hours a day in order to accommodate her seven hours of daily on ice training. At the age of ten she became the youngest skater ever to pass the "gold figures test" and at eleven years old won her first national junior title. By the age of fifteen, Scott became Canada's senior national champion, she held the Canadian Figure Skating championship title from 1944-46.