The 1961 European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The competitions took place from January 26 to 29, 1961 in West Berlin. West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, but the organized the championships. The event took place without the participation of skaters from the Soviet Union not because of a political boycott, but rather because an exceptionally mild winter left the Russian skaters with insufficient ice for practice in their home country. The Soviet team was also withdrawn from the originally planned World Championships for the same reason, but that tournament was subsequently cancelled after Sabena Flight 548."News from Europe", Skating magazine, March 1961
The defending champions in all four divisions retained their titles. In the pairs competition, however, the champions Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Bäumler faced a close battle with Margret Göbl & Franz Ningel, who had defeated them at the West German championships earlier in the season. Göbl & Ningel may have been penalized for including an illegal lift in their program."The European Championships", Skating magazine, May 1961
In the ladies' event, Sjoukje Dijkstra built up a lead in the compulsory figures that assured her of victory. Her free skating program was described as "exhausting". The stars of the free skating were Helli Sengstschmidt and Jana Mrázková, who both reportedly did triple salchow jumps in their programs.
Alain Giletti likewise assured himself of victory by winning the figures by a large margin. All three medalists in the men's division gave fine free skating performances.
Results Men Rank Name Places 1 Alain Giletti 9 2 Alain Calmat 11 3 Manfred Schnelldorfer 23 4 Peter Jonas 37 5 Emmerich Danzer 51.5 6 Robin Jones 55.5 7 Sepp Schönmetzler 65 8 Bodo Bockenauer 79 9 Heinrich Podhajsky 80 10 Per Kjølberg 87 11 Peter Krick 91 12 Wouter Toledo 111 13 Michael Flebbe 112 14 Giordano Abbondati 122 15 Ragnar Wikström 135
Judges were P. Baron Charlotte Benedict-Stieber K. Beyer Pamela Davis A. Jaisli Ferenc Kertész Hans Meixner Giovanni de Mori E. A. Voigt
Ladies Rank Name Places 1 Sjoukje Dijkstra 9 2 Regine Heitzer 21 3 Jana Mrázková 26 4 Karin Frohner 49 5 Dany Rigoulot 57 6 Helli Sengstschmid 58 7 Eva Grožajová 66 8 Nicole Hassler 73 9 Diana Clifton-Peach 77 10 Jitka Hlaváčková 83 11 Anne Reynolds 85 12 Karin Gude 90 13 Franziska Schmidt 115 14 Christa Fassi 136 15 Danièle Giraud 141 16 Ursula Barkey 147 17 Éva Csoma 162 18 Helga Zöllner 169 19 Dorette Bek 175 20 Silvana Saccozzi 178 21 Gabriele Seyfert 179 22 Sandra Brugnera 188 23 Heidemarie Steiner 190 24 Willie ten Hoopen 216
Judges were Grazia Barcellona Karl Enderlin Paul Engelfriet Martin Felsenreich Ferenc Kertész Emil Skákala Néri Valdes Adolf Walker Geoffrey Yates
Pairs Rank Name Places 1 Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler 13 2 Margret Göbl / Franz Ningel 14 3 Margit Senf / Peter Göbel 38.5 4 Rita Blumenberg / Werner Mensching 36 5 Diana Hinko / Heinz Döpfl 43.5 6 Hana Dvořáková / Karel Vosátka 52.5 7 Valerie Hunt / Peter Burrows 69.5 8 Gerda Johner / Rüdi Johner 74.5 9 Irene Müller / Hans-Georg Dallmer 75.5 10 Renate Rößler / Klaus Wasserfuhr 78
Judges were Ernst K. Bauch Charlotte Benedict-Stieber Pamela Davis A. Jaisli Theo Klemm Hans Meixner Giovanni de Mori Emil Skákala Néri Valdes
Ice dance Rank Name Places 1 Doreen Denny / Courtney Jones 7 2 Christiane Guhel / Jean Guhel 14 3 Linda Shearman / Michael Philipps 25 4 Mary Parry / Roy Mason 26 5 Eva Romanová / Pavel Roman 33 6 Rita Paucka / Peter Kwiet 46 7 Olga Gilardi / Germano Ceccattini 47 8 Ludovica Boccacci / Gianfranco Canepa 63 9 Armelle Flichy / Pierre Brun 65 10 Jitka Babická / Jaromír Holan 72 11 Györgyi Korda / Pál Vásárhelyi 73 12 Christel Trebesiner / Georg Felsinger 87 13 Margot Nissen / Klaus Ebel 87 14 Marlyse Fornachon / Charly Pichard 95 15 Martha Schamberger / Hans-Jürgen Schamberger 98
Judges were Cia Benacchi-Bordogna Ferenc Kertész L. Lauret H. Lawrence Walter Malek Hermann Schiechtl Emil Skákala
References
Sources Result List provided by the ISU printed program of the Europeans