Liselotte LANDBECK

Liselotte Landbeck competed internationally in both speed skating and figure skating. In January 1932, in Davos, Switzerland, she became the first woman to speed skate 500 metres in under 1 minute, breaking the world record with a time of 58.7. She set two further 500 m world records, recording 51.5 in 1933 and 51.3 in 1934, both marks set in Davos. At 1,000 metres she set two world records, posting 2:08.8 in January 1932 in Davos, and 1:48.5 in 1933, also in Davos. In 1933 Landbeck won the first unofficial speed skating World Championship for women in Oslo.

As a figure skater she was Austrian singles champion in 1934-35, after placing second in 1933 and fifth in 1932. She was runner-up at the European Championships in 1934-35, placing fifth in 1932, sixth in 1933, and fourth in 1936. At the Worlds she placed sixth in 1933 and third in 1934. She married Robert Verdun, figure skater for Belgium at the 1936 Winter Olympics, but in February 2011, it was revealed that Landbeck had had an affair in 1939-40 with Leopold III, King of Belgium, which resulted in a daughter, Ingeborg.

Personal Bests (SSK): 500 – 51.3 (1934); 1000 – 1:48.5 (1933).