Laurence Owen - 1961 US National Championships Freeskate
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- čas přidán 22. 01. 2008
- This is Laurence Owen's gold-medal-winning freeskate from the 1961 US National figure skating championships. A month later, the plane carrying the US team to Worlds crashed, killing everyone on board. She, her sister (a pairs skater), and her mother (a coach and former elite figure skater herself) were three of the biggest names who perished.
- Sport
Because they used film and not video tape back then, there is a ghost-like quality to the footage. And still, the beauty of her skating shines through. They were all champions. May they rest in peace.
Yes, they used 16mm film. All of Howard Craker's work was shot that way too
Laurence was my idol. I was skating at the same time as a teenager. The loss of her and the US skating team had a profound effect on me. She was so full of hope & beauty on the ice.
She made all of us work a little harder…
What a great champion skater! Laurence Owen would have surely gone on to the '64 Olympics. Unfortunately, she - along with the rest of the U.S. skating team - were killed in a plane crash 3 weeks after this video was taped. They were all en route to the World Championship in Prague when their jet crashed outside of Brussels, Belgium on Febrary 15, 1961.
Rest in peace, Laurence.
I just saw RISE tonight. This girl stole my heart. When she mentions that "worlds is only a month away" and you know she's talking about what will be her death it's just heartbreaking. The film really does honor all the people lost on that plane. She seemed like such a bright light...
This is so haunting to see this video and know that a month later she died. If only they knew...May they all rest in peace.
wow. thank u for reminding us
Such is Life.
An important reminder to make each day count
OMG so sad. She was just 16 when she died in that horrible plane crash. Her whole life ahead of her. That oh golly she said was so teenagerish and cute. The interview at the end was eerie. She talks about the world championships a month away. That's how long she had left to live. Beautiful artistic skater. The extension in her arms and legs were lovely. Now I want to read and see everything about her and that team that perished. Rip.
To watch this beautiful girl skate knowing in a month from this interview her life is doomed is so heartbreaking.
She was from my hometown, Winchester, Massachusetts. In 1961 the new elementary school which I attended was named in honor of her mother (an Olympic medalist) and the two daughters, Vinson-Owen, the name it still has to this day. The entire team was on the way to the world championships and the US figure skating program was wiped out on that day.
It's so amazing what we are able to re-watch and find on the internet from many years ago. It's beautiful.
55 years ago today.....we still remember.
After watching Laurence, Stephanie, and Rhode's performances a few times I have to say I do notice Laurence seemed to have the best posture of the three. Stephanie and Rhode seemed to hunch just a little as they skated around. They certainly taught a different jumping technique back in their day. All three were wonderful skaters and I just can't help tearing up-what might have been.
Axel sit spin! That's something that you don't see much of nowadays!
such beauty and grace. what a tragic loss :(
I skated from 73-81 on this ice at the Broadmoor and sat at their memorial out front every day waiting for my mom. Sad when that center went away.
I don't think I've ever seen any other skater use this music from Symphonie Fantastique (Hector Berlioz). Miss Owen interprets it beautifully, God rest her soul.
Such a tragic loss of life not to mention what could've been but never was. If it wasn't for the ill fated flight, Laurence Owen would've been a household name in women's ice skating. As it is, she and the others are only known for as the 1961 team that perished in a plane crash. Life is so unfair.
Thank you for this and all of the 1961 performances. Such a terrible loss. You see what could have been with these talented skaters.
So sad...this girl had so much to live for.
She lived well up to her death.
Amazing clip of a young Laurence Owen. She was FS's future. Her enthusiasm can be felt even today. School figures 60%! This made you a better skater by 19.
I was only 8 years old when the plane crashed but I remember it on the front page of the newspaper, and I would ruminate on aspects of it years later, as I did more skating, followed skating closely, and knew more top level skaters.
When skaters participate in US Nationals, there are always skaters who end up on that line between going to Worlds, and not making it. Sometimes, a skater tries several times and almost makes it, but just comes up short. That's more painful than ending up with a highest ranking of, let's say, 9th in US Nationals, because then you are never near going to Worlds, or Olympics.
In the US Nationals before the crash, there must've been skaters who were really disappointed they wouldn't be going to Worlds. And then this happens. Although horribly tragic for the families of all the people who died and were left behind, what did those people think who realized that they, their coach, and maybe family members were spared, simply because they didn't skate their best that day to qualify for the team, and be on that plane?
I know there was a documentary made about the incident that may have gone into that, but I didn't see it.
There were girls around Laurence's age or younger who loved skating and watched the US Nationals on TV, and probably thought Laurence, her sister and mother were just the luckiest people in the world, to be flying to Europe for the World Championships, such an exciting event, and at a time air travel wasn't that common for middle and lower class families.
Yes the name of it was RISE.. it's on DVD I saw it was good and it's extremely sad.
It is so bittersweet. A star-crossed skater as were all the 1961 US Worlds team. :( Anyone can see that with Laurence's lovely, lyrical style she had all the makings of being a real superstar in her sport before Peggy Fleming won Olympic gold in 1968. I think she could have given Sjoukje Dijkstra a real run for the money. Dijkstra was an athlete on the ice but she was rather wooden and had no grace. Lauren was the whole package of her era and could have possibly won several World titles including the 1964 Olympic gold. So sad. :'(
Sjoukje was good in the figures I think and not as graceful.
I love these old skating videos.
I finally see this young woman skate her entire routine. My grandparents would talk about this forever ...saying we just watched them skate and now they're gone?
Somewhat tame by today's standards but what grace and elegance Laurie had in 1961!
what a tragic loss! she looked like an angel on the ice. rest in peace to all who were lost on that plane.
I wasn't even born when this tragedy happened but as figure skating fan I've heard about it all my life. Thank you so much for posting this! Lawrence was clearly Champion material imo. Lost to tragedy years ago but her memory and that of the others on that fated flight echos through the years. Hopefully the film RISE will bring even more attention to this tragedy and it's impact.
@PecanSandees23 I agree-the film quality does make it somewhat more eerie. This lovely skater would have been a Superstar in modern times-she's got that pixie quality imo. Magical. God Rest her sweet soul and all of those who lost their lives on that tragic flight. As long as there are figure skating fans they will be remembered. Hopefully with the film RISE their tragedy will be more widely known-and honored.
She epitomized what is known as "sparkle" in figure skating, with her presentation.
She loved dance.
@@twincherry4958she loved music also
@krustytube I'm so glad that you got to see her in person and got to have an appreciation for her and her skating that so many of us wish we could've had.
Here at the end of 2020 we still remember❤💕
It's definitely haunting watching this program knowing her ultimate fate. Today I also watched Tenley Albright's free skate from 1953. The level of improvement in speed if nothing else is astounding.
thank u for these wonderful videos. she is so lovely. i love the unique steps u dont see any more today
She was gone so young this day 1961 🌹
Unfortunately her death in that same year 61. She was definitely outlined at just 16 years old, as the best ice skater in history. Today is in heaven, skates for God.
Wow, she reminds me of Janet Lynn!
It's so heart breaking there's no documentary or a biopic about Laurence, her mother and sister. Whereas Tonya Harding got her own Hollywood movie and documentaries, mainly because of her scandal and infamy. Laurence Owen was pure talent, such a beautiful soul, she deserves way more recognition and remembrance...
I agree somebody should do a film on them...
There’s a book by Nikki Nichols called Frozen In Time. It’s heartbreaking. I was only a small child when it happened in the U.K. and reading the book even all these years later made me cry so much.
Frozen In time is a great book they all champions. In my book
Such an elegant skater. Must have been so hard on surviving family members and friends. RIP.
Especially since her sister and mother died with her too
its sad she died shortly after this performance
I just happen to google people who were born on the same day i was. And this beautiful woman was one of them
So elegant and beautiful and such a sad ending. She was amazing. 🙏🏻❤️
What a beautiful lady, love her name
Cherie Laub me too
Remember 1961 today
So beautiful and so sad.
Feb 15 is the anniversity of the tragedy. Laurence Owen was on the Sports Illustrated cover. I don't have it. It should be posted.
Lawrence Skarin I sure agree
On that flight Laurence had a copy that magazine of Sports Illustrated with her picture on it... it was found among the wreckage.. it's just so bizarre....
Ah Skating to Berlioz! So beautiful!
So unfair, so unfair. Do entire athletic teams travel on the same plane thesedays? This disaster was certainly due to a combination of pilot error and airport management but ever so cruel. Its ramifications reverberated throughout the sport for many years and will forever break hearts.
Yes, they do. I was a gymnast and even without having heard of this before Rise came out, I wondered what would happen if our Olympic team's plane crashed (we send our team plus 3 alternates so basically all of our best are on one plane). It is common in college athletics as well, as was the case in the Marshall football plane crash. That happened after this and there was even a crash of another college football team years ago that had split into two planes and one crashed. Still, we put entire teams on single planes. I guess because the odds of that one plane crashing out of the thousands in the air every single day are so extremely small these days, and with time, air travel has become the safest way to transport the teams. The extreme financial cost of transporting teams by splitting them when the odds are so incredibly small that a given plane will crash just isn't justifiable to most people.
Not ice skating teams. Their group travel was banned after the crash.
@@sprinklefriend ironically in 1981 the United States boxing team plane crashed also in Belgium 20 years after the United States figure skating team was killed. And hardly no one talks about them..
@@sandrasanders706 It was 1980 and the crash was in Poland not Belgium
I've always thought she looked like a brunette Janet Lynn
Steven Chappell wasn't she blonde
Yes, Janet Lynn was blonde.
Yes... now that you mention it!
Never forget our team we lost 55 years ago.
She was gone too young this day February 15, 1961
Holy crap is that Dick Button? Man he's been calling figure skating for a long time. LOL
dsfddsgh no he's a legend for sure
Uncle Dick's been around. Fortunately he did not fly w/the team. Credit him w/guiding & seeing to it that Peggy Fleming would achieve greatness. 🇺🇸
Chances are, without Laurence Owen, there might not have been a Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, or Sarah Hughes. (Yes, there was Carol Heiss and Sonja Henie), but there was something about Laurence Owen. (By the way, the name is pronounced loh-RAHNZ).
There was also Tenley Albright who won the 1956 Olympic gold for the U.S.
Janet Lynn best figure skater ever.
I think that those skaters you mentioned would still have been successful, but it may have taken longer to get on the national and world level.
What sucks is that my mom and I bonded over figure skating after so much argumentation and if she had just watched the skating she might have named me Laurance instead of Arlene which sucks all of the available ass.
The old Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado
It's hard to believe that that little arena wasn't even full of spectators for Nationals in 1961.
@krustytube You know she would have been on the podium in Innsbruck.Some movies theaters across the country had a hour movie of the team as its been 50 years since they died.
so beautiful and tragic
This film looks like a ghost chilling and sad 😥
It's interesting how far the sport has advanced. Now the skaters have to land a triple/triple combination to win the gold, and usually several of them. Gracie Gold's skating program is ten times harder than Laurence Owen's, and she competes in the code of points system vs. the 6.0 system. Sadly, though Laurence life was short because of the 1961 plane crash killing the entire skating team.
Basically today's skaters are a result of the new system. It's an unintended consequence. After the 2002 scandal in pairs @ Salt Lake City, the IOC & ISU figured a straight point system fixed to performance would reduce any subective role arising from judging in the 6.0 system. Well...now you have a jam packed LP. It's LP on steroids. Spirals & spins are pretty much eliminated. FS not a pleasure to watch. Maybe split the sport into technical & artistic events. IOC seems to not have a problem w/this approach. Look @ swimming. 100 free...50. JMHO ⛸️
The clip certainly has a quaintness to it. Owen's performance was low on technical difficulty compared to now and flawed yet she won. (She certainly had plenty of charm and grace.) The scoring is by placards, (and one judge confused the '9' and the '6'). The color commentator was 'rooting for' the winner. It was a very different era.....Laurence was only 16. I wonder how good she could have become. She'd be about to turn 76 now....
She may have medaled at the '64 Games.One person said on another YT clip that Stephanie Westerfield was more talented.I've seen tributes to the skaters at the US Hall of Fame in Co.Springs and in Lake Placid.
I see she " doubled-footed " some of her jumps.
Гляжу на это катание и поражаюсь, как далеко ушло фигурное катание...
RIP
RIP.
Beautiful.
Feb. 15, 1961, the entire U.S. Figure Skating team crashed outside of Brussels on their way to a World championship.
Had that fatal plane crash that kilt the 1961 U.S. National figure skating team not occurred, Laurence Owen likely would've been a four time World champion and likely would have won the gold medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
She was a potentially really good skater, but the sentiment of her untimely death makes many people forget that had she lived, she was going to be coming up against the now legendary Sjoukje Dijkstra. The Dutch three time World Champ, who turned pro after enjoying the most convincing win in Olympic history in 1964 was different class at that time. Even allowing for improvement on her performance here at the 1960 US Championships, she was going to have to find a completely different level if she was going to challenge Dijkstra at the '61 worlds. I think its fair to say that level of improvement wouldn't have been manageable in six weeks. Sadly fate denied her the chance to see if she could have closed the gap over the course of 1962-64.
And the marks from the Ladies Sewing Circle are..... 5:45
Thats so cool I go to Vinson Owen elementary post more of the the Vinson Owen family
The hardest jump she completed was a 2loop. There should've been no 5.7 and 5.8 for technical merit. I wonder if there was a stronger technical performance from another skater at this championship.
Luckily, Sarah Hughes won the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal at Salt Lake
I was rooting for Michelle.
@@davanmani556 I hate to say it but so was I I love Michelle Kwan's skating..
@@davanmani556 we were all rooting for mk FFS. Oh well.
only 16!
The Universes rules really do SUCK sometimes :(
@socalazn168 I don't see that happening considering that the women now seem to be doing less or only about the same technical content as they were doing 20 years ago. For instance more women were doing triple axels in 1992 than they are now. So much for the sport moving ahead technically.
Attempting triple axels is more accurate. There were a LOT of falls in 1992.
If she just had made more mistakes and ended in 4th place.... Then she wouldn’t have made the world team & she would have been saved....
60 years ago she was gone remember her 🌹🌺