Herma Szabo
Szabo in 1926
Born	(1902-02-22)22 February 1902 Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died	7 May 1986(1986-05-07) (aged 84) Admont,Austria
Figure skating career
Country	Austria
Partner	Ludwig Wrede
Retired	1928
Medal record Representing Austria Figure skating Olympic Games 1924 Chamonix Ladies' singles World Championships 1927 Vienna Pairs 1926 Stockholm Ladies' singles 1925 Davos Ladies' singles 1925 Vienna Pairs 1924 Oslo Ladies' singles 1923 Vienna Ladies' singles 1922 Davos Ladies' singles 1927 Oslo Ladies' singles 1926 Berlin Pairs

Herma Szabo (22 February 1902 – 7 May 1986) was an Austrianfigure skater who competed inladies' singles andpairs. As a single skater, she became the1924 Olympic champion and a five-time world champion (1922–1926). She also won two world titles in pairs withLudwig Wrede.

Szabo was born inVienna, where she came from a family of figure skaters. Her mother wasChrista von Szabo, a two-time world medalist in pairs figure skating and her uncle wasEduard Engelmann Jr., a three time European Champion in men's figure skating, who built the first artificialice rink.^[1] As a result, Szabo was exposed to the sport at a young age, where she practiced at her uncle's ice rink along with her cousinsHelene Engelmann andChristine Engelmann, who went on to marryKarl Schäfer.

She competed as a figure skater under different surnames, which include von Szabó, Plank-Szabo, Planck-Szabo, Jarosz-Szabo and Jaross-Szabo. TheInternational Skating Union uses the surname Szabo to refer to her accomplishments. Szabo won the gold medal at the 1924 Winter Olympics in ladies figure skating. At the Olympics, she helped modernize ladies's figure skating by wearing a skirt cut above the knee.^[2] High-cut skirts allowed for more freedom of movement in the legs. Despite this, Sonja Henie is usually credited with being the first to wear short skirts in competition.

Szabo did not compete in theEuropeans because the ladies and pair events were not established until 1930. However, she won five consecutive world titles in ladies' figure skating from 1922 to 1926. She is one of four women to have won theWorld title five times, the others beingSonja Henie,Carol Heiss, andMichelle Kwan.^[3]

In addition, she was also an early pioneer in pairs figure skating, where she competed withLudwig Wrede. They won the World title twice, in 1925 and 1927, and placed third in 1926. She is the only skater to hold a simultaneous world titles in pairs and singles.

With her accomplishments, she is considered to be one of the most decorated figure skaters of all time.

She retired in 1927 after she was defeated by Sonja Henie of Norway at the World Championships. This result was controversial because the judging panel consisted of three Norwegians, a German, and an Austrian. The three Norwegian judges placed Henie first, while the German and Austrian judges placed Szabo first.^[4][5]

She became disillusioned with the sport and never skated competitively again. Henie offered her a rematch years later, but she refused to participate. Her abrupt retirement, led her partner Wrede, to find a different partner for the1928 Olympic Games, but not with the same success.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the bitter end to her career, Szabo was inducted into theWorld Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1982.^[6] She died at age 84 inRottenmann,Styria.^{[citation needed]}

• List of Austrians in sports

• Engelmann family history (in German).English translation.
• Picture of Herma Szabo

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHerma Szabo.

• Austrian female single skaters
• Austrian female pair skaters
• Figure skaters at the 1924 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters for Austria
• Olympic gold medalists for Austria
• 1902 births
• 1986 deaths
• Figure skaters from Vienna
• Olympic medalists in figure skating
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Medalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Use dmy dates from March 2023
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2023
• Commons category link from Wikidata