Gabriele Seyfert

Gabriele Seyfert
Gabriele Seyfert in 1968
Born	(1948-11-23) 23 November 1948 Chemnitz, East Germany
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country	East Germany
Skating club	SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
Retired	1972
Medal record Representing East Germany Ladies' figure skating Olympic Games 1968 Grenoble Ladies' singles World Championships 1970 Ljubljana Ladies' singles 1969 Colorado Springs Ladies' singles 1968 Geneva Ladies' singles 1967 Vienna Ladies' singles 1966 Davos Ladies' singles European Championships 1970 Leningrad Ladies' singles 1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Ladies' singles 1968 Västerås Ladies' singles 1967 Ljubljana Ladies' singles 1966 Bratislava Ladies' singles

Gabriele ("Gaby") Seyfert (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.

Skating career

Seyfert skated for the club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt and represented the GDR (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.

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

Personal life

Seyfert's daughter Sheila was born in 1974.

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

Event	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970
Winter Olympics				19th				2nd
World Championships		21st			5th	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st
European Championships	21st	12th	10th		5th	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	1st
East German Championships	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st

References

• 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
• [1] SR/Olympic Sports
• Olga Fluegge, Gaby Seyfert: First Star of Eastern Germany