Hayes Allen JENKINS

Sixth in the 1949 Worlds Championship was a 16-year-old named Hayes Alan Jenkins. Jenkins served his apprenticeship behind Dick Button for several years, but with Button’s retirement became the world’s top male skater. He was third at Worlds in 1950 and 1952, placing fourth in 1951, and also placed third at the US Championships in 1949, 1951, and 1952. From 1953 through 1956 he was never beaten. Jenkins was World Champion in 1953-56, US Champion those same years, and won the North American Championships in 1953 and 1955. He was not a flashy free skater, but usually built a lead in the compulsories and would hold it with slightly conservative, but exquisitely done free skating performances. Jenkins was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Colorado College who eschewed the world of professional ice shows to attend Harvard Law School. He later worked as an international lawyer for the Goodyear Company. Jenkins married Carol Heiss, the 1960 women’s gold medalist.