Gillis Grafström

Gillis Emanuel Grafström (7 June 1893 – 14 April 1938) was a Swedish figure skater. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He won three successive Olympic gold medals in Men's Figure Skating (1920, 1924, 1928) as well as an Olympic silver medal in the same event in 1932, and three World Championships (1922, 1924, 1929). Grafström is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games. He and Eddie Eagan are the only athletes to have won gold medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, although Eagan remains the only one to have managed the feat in different disciplines. He is one of the oldest figure skating Olympic champions.

Biography Grafström was born in Stockholm; his younger brother Lars Grafström was also a competitive figure skater and Swedish national champion. Gillis Grafström competed in his only European Championships in 1912 and won the "senior men's" category, separate from the European champion category. He began studying at KTH Royal Institute of Technology that same year. In 1914, Grafström competed at the last World Championships before the first world war. He came in seventh place after falling and hitting his head. As of the 2022 Olympics, he remains the only male figure skater to have won three individual Olympic gold medals (Sonja Henie and Irina Rodnina are other three-time Olympic Champions), and with his silver medal in 1932, is the most successful figure skater in Olympic history. At his first Olympics in Antwerp one of his skates broke, and he had to go to town to buy a new pair. Unfortunately, only curly-toed skates were available. Despite this, he was still able to win.

He competed in and won three World Championships in 1922, 1924, 1929, competing only intermittently between editions of Olympic Games. At his first World Championships in 1922, he fell during the compulsory figures. However, he performed so well in the free program that he was able to move into first place.

At his last Olympics in 1932 in Lake Placid, he collided with a photographer on the ice and still managed to place second.

Grafström was one of the best skaters ever in compulsory figures and also had an interest in special figures. He also invented the Grafström-pirouette (on the back outside edge of the blade) and the flying sit spin. He was known for very elegant skating and was famous for his interpretation of music.

Today there is a street in Potsdam named after him.

Results Event 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 Summer Olympics 1st Winter Olympics 1st 1st 2nd World Championships 7th 1st 1st 1st Nordic Championships 1st Swedish Championships 2nd 1st 1st 1st