Gabriele Seyfert

Gabriele "Gaby" Seyfert (later Rüger, then Messerschmidt, now Körner, born 23 November 1948) is a German former figure skater. She is a two-time World champion (1969, 1970), and the 1968 Olympic silver medalist.

Gabriele Seyfert
Seyfert in 1968
Born (1948-11-23) 23 November 1948
Chemnitz, Soviet occupation zone of Germany
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
CountryEast Germany
Skating clubSC Karl-Marx-Stadt
Retired1972
Medal record
Ladies' figure skating
Representing  East Germany
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1968 Grenoble Ladies' singles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1970 Ljubljana Ladies' singles
Gold medal – first place 1969 Colorado Springs Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 1968 Geneva Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 1967 Vienna Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 1966 Davos Ladies' singles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1970 Leningrad Ladies' singles
Gold medal – first place 1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 1968 Västerås Ladies' singles
Gold medal – first place 1967 Ljubljana Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 1966 Bratislava Ladies' singles

She is the first lady to successfully land a triple loop jump in competition.

Skating career

Seyfert skated for the club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt and represented East Germany. Her coach was her mother Jutta Müller, who also coached 1984 and 1988 Olympic champion Katarina Witt. She was a long-time rival of Peggy Fleming, but never defeated her.

In 1966, after two silver medals at the Europeans and the Worlds, she was voted as "the GDR female athlete of the year". She became the first woman to land a clean triple loop.

Seyfert ended her figure skating career in 1970. Unlike Peggy Fleming, she was not allowed to skate professionally. Offers by Holiday on Ice were refused by East German authorities. She was a Stasi informer under the codename "Perle".[1]

Seyfert turned to coaching, and worked with Anett Pötzsch in the early 1970s.[2] The East German coach hierarchy later transferred Pötzsch to Jutta Müller's group, and Seyfert ended her coaching career.

Personal life

She married ice dancer Eberhard Rüger in 1972 and they had a daughter in 1974. She then married Jochen Messerschmidt. In 2011, she married Egbert Körner.[3][4]

After ending her coaching career, Seyfert studied languages at university and worked as a professional translator. From 1985 to 1991, she led the ice ballet at the Friedrichstadtpalast in East Berlin, where she also skated occasionally. After the ice ballet was closed, she worked at a service industry business in Berlin. She lives in Berlin-Karow.

Results
International
Event 60–61 61–62 62–63 63–64 64–65 65–66 66–67 67–68 68–69 69–70
Winter Olympics19th2nd
World Champ.21st5th2nd2nd2nd1st1st
European Champ.21st12th10th5th2nd1st2nd1st1st
Prague Skate2nd
Blue Swords1st2nd1st1st1st1st
National
East German1st1st1st1st1st1st1st1st1st1st

References
  1. Stasi, Da war noch was, Gaby!
  2. Klaus-Reinhold Kany (5 June 2011). Anett Pötzsch: Germany's First Golden Girl Archived 12 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Ifsmagazine.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-10.
  3. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gabriele Seyfert". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  4. Weise, Klaus (23 November 2013). ""Zeichnen ohne Radiergummi"" ["Drawing without eraser"]. Schweriner Volkszeitung (in German). Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  • Seyfert, Gaby: Da muss noch was sein: Mein Leben – mehr als Pflicht und Kür, 1998, ISBN 3-360-00869-3
  • Seyfert, Gaby: Auf Wolke eins ist immer Platz. Single sucht Single, 2000, ISBN 3-360-00935-5
  • Olga Fluegge, Gaby Seyfert: First Star of Eastern Germany


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