Cecilia COLLEDGE

Cecilia Colledge was the youngest competitor at the 1932 Winter Olympics, aged only 11. Born into a wealthy family, her father was an eminent surgeon, and because her mother had skating aspirations for her daughter, she took her out of school to train in Norway before returning to London and working full-time with the leading coach of the day, the Swiss-German Jacques Gerschwiler, the uncle of the 1948 Olympic silver medalist Hans Gerschwiler. All the hours spent on the ice paid off because Colledge won her first British senior ladies’ title in 1935. After finishing second at the 1933 and 1936 European Championships, the 1935 World Championships, and the 1936 Olympics, she won the 1937 World Championships, and was also became a three-time European Champion (1937-39), adding another silver at the 1938 Worlds.

During World War II, Colledge served as an ambulance driver in London. Resuming training in 1945, she won her sixth British title in 1946 and then turned professional. She appeared in Ice Revues in New York and London, and was the British Open professional champion in 1947 and 1948. In the early 50s, she settled in Boston, where she coached at the Skating Club of Boston from 1952-95. One of her most successful students was Ron Ludington, who won an Olympic bronze in pairs in 1960, with his wife, Nancy. Ron Ludington later became a very successful coach in Wilmington, Delaware and credited much of his knowledge to Cecilia Colledge. Going into the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, Colledge remains Britain’s youngest Olympian, and the youngest ever Winter Games competitor at 11 years 73 days.