North American Figure Skating Championships

The North American Figure Skating Championships were a biennial figure skating competition, which took place between 1923 and 1971. Although sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), they were actually a joint venture of the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the United States Figure Skating Association. The first North American Championships were held in 1923 in Ottawa, Canada, and featured men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and four skating. The championships were held every other year, with Canada and the United States alternating as hosts, as only skaters from those countries were eligible to compete. The championships were interrupted only once, in 1943, due to World War II. Ice dance was added as an event in 1947, while four skating was retired after 1949. The last edition was held in Peterborough, Canada, in 1971, after which Canada discontinued their involvement in order to launch their own international competition, the Skate Canada International.

North American Figure Skating Championships
Status	Defunct
Genre	International championship event
Frequency	Biennial
Countries	Canada United States
Years active	1923–71
Inaugurated	1923
Organized by	Canadian Figure Skating Association United States Figure Skating Association

Montgomery Wilson of Canada holds the record for winning the most North American Championship titles in men's singles (with six), his sister Constance Wilson-Samuel holds the record in women's singles (with four), and the two hold the record in pair skating (with three). Four teams are tied for winning the most titles in ice dance (with two each): Carmel Bodel and Edward Bodel of the United States, Lorna Dyer and John Carrell of the United States, Lois Waring and Walter Bainbridge of the United States, and Geraldine Fenton and William McLachlan of Canada. McLachlan also won a third ice dance title with a previous partner.

History

In 1914, the International Skating Union of America – a joint venture of the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the United States Figure Skating Association – hosted their first championship event in New Haven, Connecticut. The second championship event was held in 1918 in New York City, and was attended by skaters from England and the United States, but not from Canada. The last two competitions, held in 1920 and 1921, were attended only by skaters from the United States.^[1]

Beginning in 1923, the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the U.S. Figure Skating Association joined together to launch the North American Championships: a soft relaunch of these earlier competitions. At this time, medal contenders at the World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympics came from either Europe or North America. Though the North American Championships were sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), they were jointly organized and run by the Canadian and U.S. skating federations, and they allowed Canadian and American skaters the opportunity to compete at a comparable event to the European Figure Skating Championships. The championships were held every other year, with Canada and the United States alternating as hosts, and only skaters from those countries were eligible to compete.^[2]

The 1943 North American Championships were cancelled due to World War II, while the 1945 competition, held concurrently with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in New York City, featured only the women's event.^[3] Ice dance was added as an event in 1947,^[4] while four skating was last held in 1949.^[5]

On February 15, 1961, most of the U.S. national team, many of whom had just finished competing at the North American Championships in Philadelphia,^[6] departed from New York City aboard Sabena Flight 548 bound for the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. The airplane crashed while on approach to Brussels Airport in Belgium.^[7] All sixty-one passengers and eleven crew members aboard the flight were killed, including the eighteen members of the U.S. national team as well as fourteen family members, coaches, and skating officials who were accompanying them. Among those killed were the recently crowned North American women's champion Laurence Owen, men's silver medalist Bradley Lord, men's bronze medalist Gregory Kelley, pairs silver medalists Maribel Owen and Dudley Richards, and ice dance silver medalists Dona Lee Carrier and Roger Campbell. Nine-time U.S. champion and coach Maribel Vinson-Owen, mother of both Laurence and Maribel, was on the flight as well. Out of respect, the World Championships were cancelled the next day.^[8]

At a planning meeting held in 1972 and attended by representatives from both the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the U.S. Figure Skating Association, the Canadian delegation announced their plans to withdraw from the North American Championships. With one of the two participating nations out, this effectively marked the end of the championships. The U.S. delegation was unaware at the time that the Canadian Figure Skating Association was already planning to launch its own international skating competition, Skate Canada, which debuted the next year.^[9] The U.S. Figure Skating Association eventually launched their own international event as well: Skate America.^[10]

By the mid-1970s, skaters from Asia were successfully competing at major international events and skaters from Europe had the advantage of an ISU championship event that was not accessible to skaters outside of Europe. In order to provide equal opportunities for all skaters, the ISU established the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in 1999; the name referred to the four continents outside of Europe where competitive figure skating took place: Africa, Asia, Australia (Oceania), and North America.^[11]

Medalists

From left to right: Montgomery Wilson of Canada, six-time North American champion in men's singles; Tenley Albright of the United States, two-time North American champion in women's singles; and Cynthia Kauffmann and Ronald Kauffman of the United States, two-time North American champions in pair skating

Men's singles

Men's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1923	Ottawa	Sherwin Badger	Melville Rogers	No other competitors	[12]
1925	Boston	Melville Rogers	Nathaniel Niles		[13]
1927	Toronto		Sherwin Badger	Montgomery Wilson	[14]
1929	Boston	Montgomery Wilson	Roger Turner	Frederick Goodridge	[15]
1931	Ottawa		James Madden	Gail Borden	[16]
1933	New York City			Robin Lee	[17]
1935	Montreal		Robin Lee	James Madden	[18]
1937	Boston		Roger Turner	Ralph McCreath	[19]
1939	Toronto		Robin Lee		[20]
1941	Philadelphia	Ralph McCreath	Eugene Turner	William Grimditch Jr.	[21]
1943	No competition due to World War II				[3]
1945	New York City	No men's competition due to World War II
1947	Ottawa	Dick Button	James Grogan	Wallace Diestelmeyer	[4]
1949	Philadelphia			Hayes Alan Jenkins	[5]
1951	Calgary				[22]
1953	Cleveland	Hayes Alan Jenkins	Peter Firstbrook	Ronnie Robertson	[23]
1955	Regina		David Jenkins	Charles Snelling	[24]
1957	Rochester	David Jenkins	Charles Snelling	Tim Brown	[25]
1959	Toronto	Donald Jackson	Tim Brown	Robert Brewer	[26]
1961	Philadelphia		Bradley Lord	Gregory Kelley	[6]
1963	Vancouver	Donald McPherson	Thomas Litz	Scott Allen	[27]
1965	Rochester	Gary Visconti	Scott Allen	Donald Knight	[28]
1967	Montreal	Donald Knight		Gary Visconti	[29]
1969	Oakland	Tim Wood	Jay Humphry	John Misha Petkevich	[30]
1971	Peterborough	John Misha Petkevich	Toller Cranston	Ken Shelley	[31]

Women's singles

Women's event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1923	Ottawa	Theresa Weld-Blanchard	Beatrix Loughran	Dorothy Jenkins	[12]
1925	Boston	Beatrix Loughran	Cecil Smith	Theresa Weld-Blanchard	[13]
1927	Toronto		Constance Wilson	Cecil Smith	[14]
1929	Boston	Constance Wilson-Samuel	Maribel Vinson	Suzanne Davis	[15]
1931	Ottawa		Elizabeth Fisher	Edith Secord	[16]
1933	New York City		Cecil Gooderham	Suzanne Davis	[17]
1935	Montreal		Maribel Vinson		[18]
1937	Boston	Maribel Vinson	Veronica Clarke	Eleanor O'Meara	[19]
1939	Toronto	Mary Rose Thacker	Joan Tozzer	Norah McCarthy	[20]
1941	Philadelphia		Eleanor O'Meara		[21]
1943	No competition due to World War II				[3]
1945	New York City	Barbara Ann Scott	Gretchen Merrill	Janette Ahrens
1947	Ottawa		Janette Ahrens	Yvonne Sherman	[4]
1949	Philadelphia	Yvonne Sherman	Marlene Smith	Virginia Baxter	[5]
1951	Calgary	Sonya Klopfer	Suzanne Morrow	Tenley Albright	[22]
1953	Cleveland	Tenley Albright	Carol Heiss	Barbara Gratton	[23]
1955	Regina			Patricia Firth	[24]
1957	Rochester	Carol Heiss	Carole Jane Pachl	Joan Schenke	[25]
1959	Toronto		Lynn Finnegan	Nancy Heiss	[26]
1961	Philadelphia	Laurence Owen	Wendy Griner	Sonia Snelling	[6]
1963	Vancouver	Wendy Griner	Petra Burka	Shirra Kenworthy	[27]
1965	Rochester	Petra Burka	Peggy Fleming	Valerie Jones	[28]
1967	Montreal	Peggy Fleming	Valerie Jones	Tina Noyes	[29]
1969	Oakland	Janet Lynn	Karen Magnussen	Linda Carbonetto	[30]
1971	Peterborough	Karen Magnussen	Janet Lynn	Suna Murray	[31]

Pairs

Pairs event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1923	Ottawa	Dorothy Jenkins Gordon McClennan	Theresa Weld-Blanchard Nathaniel Niles	Clara Frothingham Charles Rotch	[12]
1925	Boston	Theresa Weld-Blanchard Nathaniel Niles	Gladys Rogers Melville Rogers	No other competitors	[13]
1927	Toronto	Marion McDougall Chauncey Bangs	Theresa Weld-Blanchard Nathaniel Niles	Constance Wilson Montgomery Wilson	[14]
1929	Boston	Constance Wilson-Samuel Montgomery Wilson		Maribel Vinson Thornton Coolidge	[15]
1931	Ottawa		Frances Claudet Chauncey Bangs	Beatrix Loughran Sherwin Badger	[16]
1933	New York City		Maud Smith Jack Eastwood	Kathleen Lopdell Donald Cruikshank	[17]
1935	Montreal	Maribel Vinson George Hill	Constance Wilson-Samuel Montgomery Wilson	Louise Bertram Stewart Reburn	[18]
1937	Boston	Veronica Clarke Ralph McCreath	Maribel Vinson George Hill	Grace Madden James Madden	[19]
1939	Toronto	Joan Tozzer Bernard Fox	Norah McCarthy Ralph McCreath	Aidrie Cruikshank Donald Cruikshank	[20]
1941	Philadelphia	Eleanor O'Meara Ralph McCreath	Donna Atwood Eugene Turner	Patricia Vaeth Jack Might	[21]
1943	No competition due to World War II				[3]
1945	New York City	No pairs competition due to World War II
1947	Ottawa	Suzanne Morrow Wallace Distelmeyer	Yvonne Sherman Robert Swenning	Karol Kennedy Peter Kennedy	[4]
1949	Philadelphia	Karol Kennedy Peter Kennedy	Marlene Smith Donald Gilchrist	Irene Maguire Walter Muehlbronner	[5]
1951	Calgary		Janet Gerhauser John Nightingale	Jane Kirby Donald Tobin	[22]
1953	Cleveland	Frances Dafoe Norris Bowden	Carole Ormaca Robin Greiner	Margaret Anne Graham Hugh Graham	[23]
1955	Regina			Barbara Wagner Robert Paul	[24]
1957	Rochester	Barbara Wagner Robert Paul	Maria Jelinek Otto Jelinek	Nancy Rouillard Ronald Ludington	[25]
1959	Toronto		Nancy Rouillard Ronald Ludington	Maribel Owen Dudley Richards	[26]
1961	Philadelphia	Maria Jelinek Otto Jelinek	Maribel Owen Dudley Richards	Debbi Wilkes Guy Revell	[6]
1963	Vancouver	Debbi Wilkes Guy Revell	Gertrude Desjardins Maurice Lafrance	Vivian Joseph Ronald Joseph	[27]
1965	Rochester	Vivian Joseph Ronald Joseph	Cynthia Kauffman Ronald Kauffman	Susan Huehnergard Paul Huehnergard	[28]
1967	Montreal	Cynthia Kauffman Ronald Kauffman	Susan Berens Roy Wagelein	Betty Jean Lewis Richard Gilbert	[29]
1969	Oakland		JoJo Starbuck Ken Shelley	Mary Petrie Robert McAvoy	[30]
1971	Peterborough	JoJo Starbuck Ken Shelley	Melissa Militano Mark Militano	Sandra Bezic Val Bezic	[31]

Ice dance

Ice dance event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1947	Ottawa	Lois Waring Walter Bainbridge	Ann Davies Carleton Hoffner Jr.	Marcella May Willis Frank Davenport	[4]
1949	Philadelphia		Irene Maguire Walter Muehlbronner	Ann Davies Carleton Hoffner Jr.	[5]
1951	Calgary	Carmel Bodel Edward Bodel	Carol Ann Peters Daniel Ryan	Pierette Paquin Donald Tobin	[22]
1953	Cleveland	Carol Ann Peters Daniel Ryan	Virginia Hoyns Donald Jacoby	Carmel Bodel Edward Bodel	[23]
1955	Regina	Carmel Bodel Edward Bodel	Joan Zamboni Roland Junso	Virginia Hoyns William Kipp	[24]
1957	Rochester	Geraldine Fenton William McLachlan		Sharon McKenzie Bert Wright	[25]
1959	Toronto		Andree Jacoby Donald Jacoby	Anne Martin Edward Collins	[26]
1961	Philadelphia	Virginia Thompson William McLachlan	Dona Lee Carrier Roger Campbell	Paulette Doan Kenneth Ormsby	[6]
1963	Vancouver	Paulette Doan Kenneth Ormsby	Donna Mitchell John Mitchell	Sally Schantz Stanley Urban	[27]
1965	Rochester	Lorna Dyer John Carrell	Kristin Fortune Dennis Sveum	Carole Forrest Kevin Lethbridge	[28]
1967	Montreal		Joni Graham Don Phillips	Judy Schwomeyer James Sladky	[29]
1969	Oakland	Donna Taylor Bruce Lennie	Judy Schwomeyer James Sladky	Debbie Gerken Raymond Tiedemann	[30]
1971	Peterborough	Judy Schwomeyer James Sladky	Anne Millier Harvey Millier	Mary Karen Campbell Johnny Johns	[31]

Four skating

Fours event medalists

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1923	Ottawa	Elizabeth Blair Florence Wilson Philip Chrysler C.R. Morphy	Clara Hartman Grace Munstock Paul Armitage Joel Liberman	Clara Frothingham Theresa Weld-Blanchard Charles Rotch Sherwin Badger	[12]
1925–29	No fours competitions held
1931	Ottawa	Frances Claudet Kathleen Lopdell Melville Rogers Guy Owen	Cecil Smith Maude Smith Stewart Reburn Jack Eastwood	Mary Littlejohn Elizabeth Fisher Hubert Sprott Jack Hose	[16]
1933	New York City	Margaret Davis Prudence Holbrook Melville Rogers Guy Owen	Constance Wilson-Samuel Elizabeth Fisher Montgomery Wilson Hubert Sprott	Theresa Weld-Blanchard Suzanne Davis Richard Hapgood Fred Parmenter	[17]
1935	Montreal		Nettie Prantel Ardelle Kloss Joseph Savage Roy Hunt	Suzanne Davis Grace Madden Frederick Goodridge George Hill	[18]
1937	Boston		Naomi Slater Aidrie Cruikshank Jack Hose Donald Cruikshank	Nettie Prantel Ardelle Kloss Joseph Savage George Boltres	[19]
1939	Toronto	Dorothy Caley Hazel Caley Ralph McCreath Montgomery Wilson	Gillian Watson Ruth Hall Sandy McKechnie Donald Gilchrist	Nettie Prantel Marjorie Parker Joseph Savage George Boltres	[20]
1941	Philadelphia	Janette Ahrens Mary Louise Premer Robert Uppgren Lyman Wakefield Jr.	Therese McCarthy Virginia Wilson Donald Gilchrist Michael Kirby	No other competitors	[21]
1943	No competition due to World War II				[3]
1945	New York City	No fours competition due to World War II
1947	Ottawa	No fours competition held			[4]
1949	Philadelphia	Janet Gerhauser Marilyn Thomsen John Nightingale Marlyn Thomsen	Mary Kenner Vera Smith Peter Dunfield Peter Firstbrook	Jean Matzke Elizabeth Royer Newbold Black IV Henry Mayer IV	[5]

Records

Siblings Montgomery Wilson and Constance Wilson-Samuel of Canada hold the records for winning the most North American Championship titles in men's singles (with six), women's singles (with four), and pair skating (with three).

Records

Discipline	Most championship titles
	Skater(s)	No.	Years	Ref.
Men's singles	Montgomery Wilson	6	1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939	[32]
Women's singles	Constance Wilson-Samuel	4	1929, 1931, 1933, 1935	[33]
Pairs	Constance Wilson-Samuel Montgomery Wilson	3	1929, 1931, 1933	[32]
Ice dance	Carmel Bodel Edward Bodel	2	1951, 1955	[34]
	Lorna Dyer John Carrell	2	1965, 1967	[35]
	Geraldine Fenton William McLachlan	2	1957, 1959	[36]
	William McLachlan [a]	3	1957, 1959, 1961
	Lois Waring Walter Bainbridge	2	1947, 1949	[37]

1. William McLachlan won two championship titles while partnered with Geraldine Fenton (1957, 1959) and one with Virginia Thompson (1961).

Cumulative medal count

Total number of North American Championship medals by nation^[38]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Canada	49	34	31	114
2	United States	42	57	56	155
Totals (2 entries)		91	91	87	269

See also

• Canadian National Skating Championships
• U.S. Figure Skating Championships
• Four Continents Figure Skating Championships