Marika Kilius

Marika Kilius (; born 24 March 1943) is a German former pair skater. With Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, she is a two-time Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion, and a six-time European champion. Earlier in her career, she competed with Franz Ningel.

Personal life Marika Kilius, the daughter of a hairdresser, was born on 24 March 1943 in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen. In 1964, she married Werner Zahn, the son of a factory owner from Frankfurt am Main. The couple divorced thirteen years later, and Kilius also divorced her second husband after four years. She has two children, Sascha and Melanie Schäfer, and as of May 2005, two grandchildren.

Career Kilius began as a singles skater but picked up pairs very early. Her first partner was Franz Ningel. They placed fourth at the 1956 Olympics and won the silver medal at the 1957 World Championships. Kilius was still a child when she was paired with Ningel, who was more than six years her senior. By 1957 she had grown to be taller than her partner, which caused problems on their lifts, so the team split up.

For a time following her split with Ningel, Kilius competed in artistic roller skating as a singles skater. She was the World Roller ladies' champion in 1958.

Afterward, Kilius began skating with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler under the tutelage of Erich Zeller. They won the German Championships after being paired together for only six weeks. In 1966, because the team had signed a professional skating contract before the 1964 Winter Olympics – against the rules at the time – they were stripped of the medal.

Kilius was voted the German female athlete of the year in 1959.

Results Pairs with Franz Ningel Event 1954 1955 1956 1957 Winter Olympics 4th World Championships 7th 3rd 2nd European Championships 3rd 3rd 3rd German Championships 2nd 1st 1st 1st

Pairs with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler Event 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 Winter Olympics 2nd 2nd World Championships 6th 2nd 3rd 1st 1st European Championships 5th 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st German Championships 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st