Carol Heiss
| Carol Heiss Jenkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |
 United States
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| Born | January 20, 1940 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach | Pierre Brunet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | SC of New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1960 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| Olympic medal record | ||
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| Women's figure skating | ||
| Representing United States
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1960 Squaw Valley | Singles |
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1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo | Singles |
Carol Elizabeth Heiss Jenkins (born January 20, 1940 in New York City) is an American figure skater and former actress. She is the 1960 Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, 1956 Olympic silver medalist and five-time World Champion (1956–1960).
Heiss grew up in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York, where she started skating at the age of 6. She was coached by Pierre Brunet. Heiss first came to national prominence in 1951, when she was U.S. Novice Ladies' Champion at age 11. She won the U.S. Junior Ladies title in 1952, and then moved up to the senior level in 1953. From 1953 to 1956, she finished second to Tenley Albright at the national championships.
Heiss's 1956 performance qualified her for the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. She won the silver medal, while Albright took the gold. However, at the following World Figure Skating Championships at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany, Heiss defeated Albright for the title; it was the first of her five consecutive world titles. During her run of world titles, she also attended New York University, graduating after the 1960 Winter Olympics.
After the 1956 Winter Olympics, Heiss had offers to turn professional and skate in ice shows. But her mother, Marie Heiss, was quite ill with cancer at the time, and before her death in October, 1956, she asked Carol to stay an amateur to win a gold medal for her. Between 1957 and 1960, Carol Heiss dominated women's figure skating like nobody since Sonja Henie. She was the World and U.S. Champion each year, and at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, Heiss captured the gold medal, being ranked first by all nine judges. She also took the Olympic Oath as representative of the organizing country to open the 1960 games. By winning the 1960 World Championships held after the Olympics, Heiss became one of three women to have won five consecutive World Championships. She retired thereafter.
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