Gustave Lussi

Gustave François Lussi (June 2, 1898 – June 23, 1993) By 1951, journalists described him in print as a "world-renowned coach."

Lussi introduced checking the jump landings instead of turning a three after landing, a program as composition with a beginning and ending instead of the official just banging a gong to signal the end of the allotted time to perform, closing the figures on the backward pushes which until that time were left open, the original design for the Pattern 99 blade, the flying sit spin, the flying camel or Button Camel spin with Dick Button, the crossed-leg rotation position in jumping and spinning, the double Axel jump, the triple jumps, the delayed Axel and delayed-rotation double and triple jumps.

Lussi also started summer skating in Lake Placid after the Olympic Arena was enclosed in 1932 for the Winter Olympics. He convinced the local municipality to open the arena for a month that summer and imported skaters from Canada to perform shows that summer. His father-in-law painted the ice for these great extravaganzas. These shows led to his being hired to choreograph the shows for Ice Capades for several years.

Legacy Lussi's skaters are known for their strong spinning technique. Lussi was also responsible for developing modern figure skating jump technique, including the now-standard crossed-leg rotation, or back spin, position in the air. His pupil Dick Button was the first to perform a double Axel and the first triple loop jump in competition, and Lussi students were also the first performers of flying spins such as the flying camel and flying sit spin which are now a standard part of every elite skater's repertoire.

In April 1990, a documentary film Gustave Lussi: The Man Who Changed Skating was shown on the PBS television network. The documentary was conceived and co-produced by his former student Cecily Morrow and produced by station WCFE-TV.

On December 15, 2015, U.S. Figure Skating announced Lussi would be a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

Button, Dick (1955). Dick Button on Skates. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Catalog Card No. 55-12069. www.IceCommand.com Systematic Figure Skating: The Spin & Jump Techniques of Gustave Lussi. (instructional videos produced by a Lussi student, Cecily Morrow)