Gilbert Fuchs

Who was Gilbert Fuchs?

Gilbert Fuchs was a German figure skater and world champion in figure skating.

In 1896, he won the first world figure skating championships, held in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1906 he recaptured the title in Munich.

Relations with his constant rival Ulrich Salchow were strained. In 1906, Salchow did not compete in Munich, Fuchs' hometown, because he expected to be judged unfairly. Likewise, Fuchs did not participate in the 1908 Olympics because he felt the judges favored Salchow.

Only once did Fuchs place higher in a competition than Salchow, the 1901 Europeans in Vienna. Fuchs however didn't win, coming second to Gustav Hügel of Austria.

Fuchs learned figure skating on his own, after learning gymnastics, weightlifting, and stone put. After finishing secondary school, he served in a cavalry regiment, later studying agriculture in Vienna. Still later, he moved to Munich, Bavaria, in Germany and studied forestry. He practiced on Germany's first artificial ice rink, named "Unsöldsche Kunsteisbahn", which opened in 1892 and competed for Munich EV and Germany. He wrote and published: "Theory and Practice of Figure Skating".