3-085-865 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Figure-Skating at the National Skating Palace, 1898. '1. Judges for the International Competition. 2. A Set. 3. An Interval in the Game. 4. Full Swing. 5. Mr. H. Grenander, of Stockholm, Winner of First Prize in International Competition. '...[one of] several "natural" rinks now boasted by the Metropolis under conditions which make them independent of King Frost. Of our page of sketches taken at the National Skating Palace, Oxford Circus, the most interesting is that recalling the brilliant performance of the Stockholm champion, Mr. H. Grenander, in the international figure-skating competition...[The contentants were] Herr Fuchs (Munich), Herr Grenander (Stockholm), Herr Hengle (Vienna), Mr. Holt (England), and Herr Wük (Finland)...The championship was very keenly contested...In the set figures Herr Hengle scored the most points, Herr Fuchs second, and Herr Grenander third; but in the evening Herr Grenander's marvellous free skating, by its nerve, rapidity of movement, grace, and extraordinary balance of the body when in almost impossible positions, so far outshone his rivals that he was successful in exceeding the points gained by Herr Hengle and Herr Fuchs, and was declared international amateur champion figure-skater by the judges'. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.