| Figure skating at the V Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Olympic Games |
| Champions | |
Men's singles: Dick Button | |
Ladies' singles: Barbara Ann Scott | |
Pairs: Micheline Lannoy /Pierre Baugniet | |
Navigation | |
| Previous: 1936 Winter Olympics | |
| Next: 1952 Winter Olympics | |
Figure skating at the1948 Winter Olympics took place at theOlympic Ice Rink inSt. Moritz, Switzerland. Threefigure skating events were contested:men's singles,ladies' singles, andpair skating.[1]
Barbara Ann Scott became the first Canadian to win the figure skating gold medal whileDick Button became the first American to win a figure skating title for the United States. Button also became the first figure skater to perform adouble Axel in competition. The pair ofMicheline Lannoy andPierre Baugniet became the first Belgians to win the figure skating gold medal, as well as the first Belgians to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
The competition began with the men'scompulsory figures on 2 February. However, the next day, competition was postponed in the midst of the ladies' figures event due to a thaw that left puddles of water on the outdoor ice surface. On 5 February competition had to be resumed, regardless of poor ice conditions, in order to allow the Games to finish on schedule. The pairs event on 7 February was skated in a heavy snowstorm, with the ice having to be scraped after each program.[2]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's singles details |  Dick Button (USA) |  Hans Gerschwiler (SUI) |  Edi Rada (AUT) |
| Ladies' singles details | Barbara Ann Scott (CAN) | Eva Pawlik (AUT) |  Jeannette Altwegg (GBR) |
| Pairs skating details | Micheline Lannoy andPierre Baugniet (BEL) |  Andrea KékesyandEde Király (HUN) | Suzanne Morrow andWallace Diestelmeyer (CAN) |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | Austria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
A total of 63 figure skaters from 12 nations competed at the St. Moritz Games:
Austria (9) Belgium (3) Canada (4)
Czechoslovakia (7)
Denmark (1)
France (3) Great Britain (9) Hungary (6)
Italy (2)
Norway (3) Switzerland (7) United States (9)
