Denise Biellmann (born 11 December 1962) is a Swiss professional figure skater. She was the European and World Champion in 1981 and won the Swiss Championships three times.

Career

Amateur career

Born in Zurich, Biellmann won her first international championship in Belgium at age 8; and, at age 11, she won the Swiss Junior Figure Skating Championships. At age 14, she competed at the 1977 European Championships and placed second in the Free Skate portion of the competition.

At the age of 15, she was the second female skater to land the triple Lutz jump in competition, after Jill Sawyer, which she performed for the first time at the 1978 European Championships. At the same event, she became the first woman to receive a 6.0 in Technical Merit, receiving the score from British judge Pauline Borrajo.

At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Biellmann again performed poorly in compulsory figures and was in twelfth place. She was second in the short program and won the free skate to finish fourth overall. She won the gold medal at the 1981 European Championships and another gold medal at 1981 Worlds. she popularized and perfected the spin, but did not invent it. It was present in skating at least since the 1965 European Championships when Tamara Moskvina performed it. It remains the only figure skating spin to be officially named after a person in ISU regulations.

According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, Biellmann's forte was the more athletic aspects of the free skating program, including "outstanding jumps and fast spins".

Competitive highlights

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=10 align=center | International

|-

! Event

!

! 73–74

! 74–75

! 75–76

! 76–77

! 77–78

! 78–79

! 79–80

! 80–81

|-

| align=left | Winter Olympics || || || || || || || || 4th ||

|-

| align=left | World Champ. || || || || 15th || 10th || 5th || 5th || 6th || bgcolor=gold | 1st

|-

| align=left | European Champ. || || || || || 6th || 4th || bgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd || WD || bgcolor=gold | 1st

|-

| align=left | NHK Trophy || || || || || || || || || bgcolor=gold | 1st

|-

| align=left | Richmond Trophy || || || || || || bgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd || || ||

|-

| align=left | St. Gervais || || || || || bgcolor=silver | 2nd || || bgcolor=gold | 1st || ||

|-

| align=left | International Challenge Cup || || || || || || || bgcolor=gold | 1st || ||

|-

! style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=10 align=center | National

|-

| align=left | Swiss Champ. || 5th J || bgcolor=gold | 1st J || 11th || bgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd || bgcolor=silver | 2nd || bgcolor=silver | 2nd || bgcolor=gold | 1st || bgcolor=gold | 1st || bgcolor=gold | 1st

|-

| colspan=10 align=center | <small> J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew </small>

|}

Book

  • Denise Biellmann – Die Biografie. Cameo, Bern 2022, ISBN 978-3-03951-011-5.

References

  • YouTube video - 1980 Winter Olympics