Donald Jackson (figure skater)

Donald George Jackson, CM OOnt (born April 2, 1940) is a Canadian retired figure skater. He is the 1962 World Champion, four-time Canadian national champion, and 1960 Olympic bronze medallist. At the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he landed the first triple lutz jump in international competition and won the world title.[1][2]

Donald Jackson
Personal information
Full nameDonald George Jackson
Country represented Canada
Born (1940-04-02) April 2, 1940
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Olympic medal record
Men's figure skating
Representing  Canada
1960 Squaw Valley Singles

Biography

Jackson was coached by Pierre Brunet in New York City, where he lived with the family of 1960 Olympic Champion Carol Heiss.[3]

He won a bronze medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics at the age of 19.[4][5]

In both 1959 and 1960, he won a silver medal at the World Championships.[5] The 1961 event was cancelled after the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of many of Jackson's contemporaries in the US figure skating team. He had not been scheduled to attend the championships that year and was mercifully not onboard the fatal flight.[3] In 1962, at the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Jackson became world champion and made history by landing the first triple lutz in international competition.[5]

He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1962,[6] and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1977.[5][7]

Jackson is the former director of skating and was also a coach at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa, Ontario.[6]

In 1997, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[6][7] He was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.[8]

In 2004, Jackson was included in the first induction of the Lisgar Collegiate Institute Athletic Wall of Fame, as part of the 160th Anniversary celebrations.[9]

In 2012, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.[10]

In May 2016, aged 76 years old, Jackson appeared in a couple of Stars on Ice shows in Canada, performing a duet with Kurt Browning. His part included an Axel jump and a waltz jump.[11]

Results
Event 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962
Winter Olympics3rd
World Championships7th4th2nd2nd—1st
North American Championships4th1st1st
Canadian Championships2nd2nd2nd1st1st1st1st

References
  1. "Skate Canada History". Skate Canada. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
  2. World Figure Skating Championship in Prague on YouTube
  3. "Tragic Crash Shocks Officials Here". Ottawa Citizen. February 14, 1961.
  4. "Donald Jackson results". IOC. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  5. Russell, Susan D. (March 3, 2019). "Donald Jackson: Master of Triple Lutz". IFS magazine. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  6. "Minto Skating Club: Coaches". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
  7. "Donald Jackson – King of Blades". CHIPReverseMortgage. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  8. "Don Jackson". Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  9. Fraser, Bill. "Sports "Wall of Fame"" (PDF). Alere Flammam (Newsletter of Lisgar Alumni Association) Fall 2004. Lisgar Collegiate Institute. XXX (1).
  10. "27 Appointees Named To Ontario's Highest Honour". news.ontario.ca (Archived news release). Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. January 20, 2012.
  11. Smith, Beverley (May 10, 2016). "Donald Jackson: there's only one". bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com.
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