Friday, January 14, 2011

Denise Biellmann: Swiss Powerhouse Extraordinaire


I first saw Denise Biellmann skate the first time I watched the tape Magic Memories on Ice tape as a 10-year-old in the early '90s. My Aunt Kitty, an avid skating fan, gave me a copy of the tape during a family visit to her home in Forest City, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that she discovered that I was interested in the sport. All I can remember was talking to her about how Surya Bonaly of France had been a world tumbling champion before becoming a skater. Anyway, since my Aunt was a life-long skating fan-- she had a signed photo of Scott Hamilton displayed on an end table in her living room among family photos--she thought it would be nice to share the skating video with me. I am most thankful for receiving a copy of that wonderful film because it educated me about all the skating greats. One of those skaters was Denise Biellmann, an athletic powerhouse and superb spinner from Switzerland.

Denise was born in Zurich in 1962. She was groomed to be a skating champion by her mother, Heidi. Heidi had once been a promising up-and-coming skater, but had to put her career on hold during the outbreak of WWII. By the time the war was over, Heidi's prime had passed, so she channeled all her skating dreams and efforts into her daughter, Denise. From what I understand, she coached Denise throughout Denise's career, which was considerably short, but successful. Denise, a 3-time Swiss champion, won the 1981 European and World titles. At the World Championships in 1878, a 15-year-old Denise stunned the world by becoming the first female to land the difficult Triple Lutz jump. (The first man to land a Triple Lutz was Donald Jackson of Canada at the 1962 World Championships). At the 1981 Worlds, Denise won the title, with an exciting routine, which featured an incredible, innovative spin, which became known as "The Biellman." (Depicted above). In the spin, she grabbed her skate from behind, pulled it over her heard, and continued to gain speed as she rotated.

Denise was a spinning trend-setter with this spin, as skaters all over the world have made this beautiful, dynamic spin a highlight of their programs for years. It requires a great amount of flexibility, strength, and skill to pull this move off well. The Biellman spin remains the only spin named after a person, under International Skating Union regulations. (There are several spins that are unofficially nicknamed after skaters, but not officially under ISU rules. For example, Dorothy Hamill had a spin nicknamed "The Hamill Camel," which isn't really a camel spin, but rather a transition from a back camel to a back sitspin, but that's not the official name in the rulebook. )

Now, with the new judging system, The Biellman spin has become a major point-getting spin. Skaters also use a variation of The Biellman position in spiral sequences. As for The Biellman spins, only a few skaters, such as Alissa Czisny do them any justice, but no one can do it quite like the skater who made it famous.

Below is a clip of Denise performing her trademark spin, followed by a blurring "headless spin." This clip is from a professional competition in 1995.



At the 1980 Olympics, Denise won the freeskate, but only finished 4th overall, due to lower placements in the other portions of the competition. The following year she won her one and only world medal, a gold, and retired. I don't know why Denise retired so early, at the age of 18. I never heard any information about the end of her career, and I can't seem to find anything about it online. I suppose it doesn't matter, but it does pique my interest. Perhaps Denise could have accomplished more skating-firsts, and had a chance to contend for a medal at the 1984 Olympics, where she would have only been 21, but maybe she felt that she reached her peak after winning her world title?


Denise continued to skate in skating shows and perform her trademark spin throughout her professional career, which is a testament to her extraordinary physical condition and athleticism. During the boom of professional skating competitions in the mid-1990s, when Denise was in her early 30s, she was still performing her physically-demanding spin with ease. Not to mention that she skated with great speed, enormous consistent triple jumps. She was a machine! What a tremendous athlete!

I very much enjoyed watching Denise compete in all the made-for-TV competitions in the mid-90s because you could always count on her for exciting, technically strong performances. Denise may not have been an "artistic" skater, but she did show growth in her presentation skills in the latter half of her career. I appreciated her skating skills, and her unbelievable physical condition.

In this 1995 program that I've posted below, Denise skates to "Push It" by hip-hop group Salt 'n Peppa and "Let the Beat Control Your Body" by Dutch group 2 Unlimited, is one that I fondly program. My sister and I loved Denise's awesome speed, power, and total command of the ice. The second piece of music, was from a CD titled "No Limits," which is apt for Denise, who truly knew no-limits as she flew across the ice. She was like a fitness instructor at the disco on skates! She worked it, and pushed it...pushed it real good!

At the end of the program, commentator Scott Hamilton quipped to co-commentator Verne Lundquist: "I don't know about you Verne, but I'm going back to the hotel and working out after this!"

Consider this video a motivator to get up off the couch and move!










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