Maribel Vinson | Today's AI Wiki

1. Early Life and Background

Maribel Vinson-Owen's early life was deeply rooted in the world of figure skating, influenced by her family's passion for the sport and her academic pursuits.

Maribel Yerxa Vinson was born on October 12, 1911, to Thomas and Gertrude Vinson in Winchester, Massachusetts. Both of her parents were figure skaters, and she was made an honorary member of the Cambridge Skating Club at birth, indicating her early connection to the sport. Vinson was an excellent student and pursued higher education at Radcliffe College, from which she graduated in 1933, all while continuing to develop her ice skating skills.

1.2. Early Skating Career

Vinson began taking figure skating lessons at the age of nine with coach Willie Frick at the Boston Arena. Her talent quickly became apparent, and she achieved early success by winning the U.S. junior ladies' title at the age of 12. This early triumph set the stage for her distinguished competitive career.

2. Competitive Career

Maribel Vinson-Owen had a remarkable competitive career, excelling in both ladies' singles and pair skating, and earning numerous national and international accolades.

2.1. Ladies' Singles Skating

Vinson-Owen dominated the U.S. Championships in ladies' singles, winning the title every year from 1928 to 1937, with the sole exception of 1934. This impressive feat resulted in a total of nine U.S. national titles, a record she shares with Michelle Kwan for the most U.S. ladies' figure skating titles.

On the international stage, Vinson-Owen earned the bronze medal at the 1932 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, placing behind the Norwegian champion Sonja Henie and the Austrian runner-up Fritzi Burger. She also secured two medals at the World Figure Skating Championships, a silver in 1928 and a bronze in 1930. Her other World Championship performances included a 4th place finish in 1931 and 1932, and a 5th place in 1934. Vinson-Owen competed in the Winter Olympic Games twice more, finishing 4th at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz and 5th at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. She also claimed the 1937 North American Championship title and a bronze medal at the European Figure Skating Championships in 1934.

2.2. Pair Skating

In addition to her singles success, Vinson-Owen was a formidable pair skater. She won two U.S. national titles in pairs with Thornton L. Coolidge in 1928 and 1929. She later teamed up with George E. B. Hill, with whom she achieved even greater success, winning four U.S. national pair titles in 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. With Hill, she also became the 1935 North American champion and earned a silver medal at the North American Championships in 1937. They competed together at the 1931 World Championships, finishing 5th, and at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where they also placed 5th.

3. Coaching Career

After retiring from amateur ice skating, Maribel Vinson-Owen transitioned into a highly successful coaching career, guiding numerous skaters to national and international prominence.

Initially, Vinson-Owen toured professionally with her husband, Guy Owen, in ice shows. Following the birth of her two daughters, she began coaching in Berkeley, California. After her divorce from Owen in 1949 and her father's death in 1952, she moved back to her hometown of Winchester, Massachusetts, and continued coaching at rinks in the Boston area.

Vinson-Owen became one of America's most respected skating instructors. She coached Tenley Albright to five U.S. national titles and, significantly, to the United States' first Olympic gold medal in ladies' singles. She also taught Frank Carroll, who himself went on to become a renowned coach, guiding skaters like Michelle Kwan to multiple world and national titles and Evan Lysacek to an Olympic gold medal. Vinson-Owen also personally trained her own daughters, Maribel Owen and Laurence Owen, who both became accomplished figure skaters.

4. Writing and Journalism Career

Maribel Vinson-Owen was a pioneer not only in figure skating but also in sports journalism, breaking barriers as a female sportswriter and authoring influential books on her sport.

She made history as the first woman sportswriter at The New York Times newspaper, a role she took on in the 1930s while still actively competing and winning medals. Her contributions to the newspaper helped shape the public's understanding of figure skating.

Throughout her lifetime, Vinson-Owen authored several books on figure skating, sharing her expertise and insights:

Primer of Figure Skating - McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey House (1938)
Advanced Figure Skating - McGraw-Hill/Whittlesey House (1940)
The Fun of Figure Skating - Harper & Brothers (1960)

In her book Primer of Figure Skating, Vinson-Owen dedicated several pages to the appropriate attire for female figure skaters on the ice, detailing the correct length and style of skirts. She also suggested that the appeal of the sport was linked to feminine interests in skating fashion. Figure skating historian and writer Ellyn Kestnbaum analyzed Vinson-Owen's views, noting that Vinson "points to several ways in which skating attire connotes (and permits) athleticism and also how it can attract the eye on the merits of its own design elements and by enhancing the visual appeal of the skater's body." Kestnbaum also observed that Vinson-Owen believed female skaters should pay more attention to their appearance than male skaters.

5. Personal Life

Maribel Vinson's personal life was intertwined with her professional endeavors, marked by family, marriage, and personal loss.

She married Canadian skater Guy Owen. Together, they had two daughters who would also become figure skaters: Maribel Yerxa Owen, born in 1940, and Laurence Rochon Owen, born in 1944. Vinson and Owen divorced in 1949. Guy Owen tragically passed away three years later in 1952 at the age of 38. In the same year, Maribel's father also died. Following these losses, she and her daughters moved back east to Winchester, Massachusetts, where they lived with her mother.

In February 1961, Maribel Vinson-Owen, along with both of her daughters, perished in the Sabena Flight 548 crash in Belgium.

6. The Sabena Flight 548 Crash

The lives of Maribel Vinson-Owen and her daughters, along with the entire U.S. figure skating team, were tragically cut short in the devastating Sabena Flight 548 crash in 1961, an event that had a profound impact on the sport.

On February 15, 1961, Maribel Vinson-Owen, serving as a coach, and her two daughters, Maribel and Laurence, who were competitors, were part of the United States team traveling to the 1961 World Championships scheduled to be held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. They boarded Sabena Flight 548 at Idlewild International Airport in New York City with the rest of the American delegation.

The overnight flight included a scheduled stopover in Brussels, Belgium. Upon its arrival in the clear mid-morning, the captain of the Boeing 707 aircraft had to abort the initial landing approach and attempt a second landing on a different runway. However, the plane never reached the airport on its second attempt. Instead, it plunged into the wooded farmland of the village of Berg, Belgium. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 72 passengers and crew members on board, as well as a farmer who was working in his fields. Among the deceased were all 18 members of the American figure skating team, along with 16 of their relatives, friends, and coaches, including Maribel Vinson-Owen and her daughters.

The tragedy led to the cancellation of the 1961 World Championships. The remains of Maribel Vinson-Owen and her daughters were repatriated to the United States and interred in the Story Chapel Columbarium at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

7. Legacy and Assessment

Maribel Vinson-Owen's legacy is defined by her exceptional contributions as an athlete, coach, and journalist, leaving a lasting impact on figure skating and paving the way for women in sports.

7.1. Overall Impact

Vinson-Owen's significant contributions to figure skating spanned multiple roles. As an athlete, she was one of the most dominant American figure skaters of her era, holding a record for U.S. ladies' singles titles. As a coach, she nurtured the talents of future champions, including the first American Olympic gold medalist in ladies' singles, Tenley Albright, and influenced the coaching career of Frank Carroll. Her dedication to the sport, both on and off the ice, profoundly shaped its development in the United States.

7.2. Pioneering Roles in Sports and Journalism

Maribel Vinson-Owen was a trailblazer for women in sports and media. Her achievement as the first female sportswriter at The New York Times was groundbreaking, demonstrating that women could excel in traditionally male-dominated fields. She continued to compete and win medals while working as a full-time reporter, showcasing her remarkable ability to balance demanding careers. Her work helped to elevate the profile of figure skating and establish a precedent for women's voices in sports commentary.

7.4. Honors and Commemorations

Maribel Vinson-Owen has been widely recognized for her contributions to figure skating. She was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame three times: in 1976 as a singles skater, in 1994 with George E.B. Hill in the pairs' category, and in 2011 as a coach for the 1961 World Team. In 2001, she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Professional Skaters' Association Coaches Hall of Fame, alongside the five other coaches who perished with her in the 1961 plane crash. In 2002, she was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Her daughters, Maribel and Laurence Owen, were also inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2011. In her hometown of Winchester, Massachusetts, the Vinson-Owen Elementary School was named in honor of Maribel Vinson-Owen and her daughters, serving as a lasting tribute to their legacy.

8. Major Competition Results

8.1. Single skating

Event	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937
Winter Olympics			4th				3rd				5th
World Championships			2nd		3rd	4th	4th		5th
North American Championships				2nd						2nd		1st
European Championships									3rd
U.S. Championships	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st		1st	1st	1st

8.2. Pair skating with Hill

Event	1930	1931	1932	1933	1935	1936	1937
Winter Olympics						5th
World Championships		5th				5th
North American Championships					1st		2nd
U.S. Championships	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st

8.3. Pair skating with Coolidge

Event	1928	1929
North American Championships		3rd
U.S. Championships	1st	1st