Don Jackson - 1962 World Figure Skating champion - Prague

[wia729]

After half a century, this still looks beautiful.

[erikaandkaitlyn]

i am amazed he is still skating, i just skated with him today, he is amazing <3

[joe11880]

Hi did 20 jumps in his program. I can't get over the height on that triple lutz. Exciting to see this clip.

[firmingitup]

I don't care that they didn''t do quads and triple axels during those days. This video was so exciting--the fact that he was the first to do a triple lutz in competition and also the pressure of needing to score so highly to win--it was exciting to watch.

[starstruckvenus13]

I believe the next triple lutz was cleanly landed in competition about 20 years later.

[npe1]

@starstruckvenus13 No, the next triple lutz in competition was 12 years later in 1974 by Jan Hoffmann. 20 years later, in 1982, triple lutzes were commonplace by then and you could probably see about 10 or a dozen done in a World or European Championships and by that time some men were doing triple axels. First triple axel in competition was 1978 by Vern Taylor.

[ancamg]

Geez, in those times men looked like real men! They were also so elegant. Don was amazing. His 3L was so high, I thing he had room for an extra rotation. Anyway amazing skater!

[victorskid]

49 years ago today and he's still skating!

[smokiebear12]

i dont remember this i wasn't born yet but i've heard of him in school

but i read about him .

[smokiebear12]

i dont remember this i wasn't born yet but i've heard of him in school

[melissa7638]

He actually originally skated with my club,, he came back a few years ago.. i think for his 70th birthday, i met him and he did a performance on our ice... it was amazing to see a man of his age do what he did.. he was a bit wobbly of course but nobody cared :)

[OliverGC]

I skate with Don at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa :)

I see him every day.. :D

[Chutson353]

That was the first, and probably the best triple lutz ever performed in competitive figure skating - the height, the position, the landing - perfect!

[Gmeed]

wow, better than OS Vancover 2010. 10 stars

[thi711]

Can anybody please tell me if this is real??? I mean... I've never seen such incredible moves.

[faeryquene]

He had enough height to do a quad imo!

[stitchgrl777]

classic and effortless.

[darkoanton5]

This is brilliant.  Look in '62 he did a triple Lutz and actually was fluid in his performance. That shit that was on TV at these 2010 Olympics was so shabby compared to this. I don't know what's happened to men's figure skating but the art is gone,

[eric710221]

So this is what mens figure skating was like when they wore suits and weren't gay?

[mlc2005]

@eric710221 : More like when men wore suits and were forced to be in the closet :) It's nice to know that (well, aside from the existence of people like yourself), those times are becoming extinct. Sorry, but what a stupid comment from you.

[eric710221]

@mlc2005 I'm right and you are not. Deal with it.

[cnsmile]

This guys can do extremely well in the present day olympics. truly amazing

[faeryquene]

I agree.

I give Donald a 10% bonus for doing that triple sal well over the 4:00 mark. ;-)

[emairelhd]

Wow this was amazing. I looked up figure skating, just because I enjoy watching it on TV when its on - I admit, I saw the black-n-white and was skeptical I would make it through all 9 minutes, but WOW I was captivated! This was SO beautiful, the footwork was amazing! just WOW

[SofijaDot]

he's a coach at one of one of our rival clubs, in the same city. so i've skated on the same ice numerous times with him before and met him several times.

[borntowitness]

omg :) look at the lutz! so rare

[heyitzdave]

hahaha he's my uncle or something like that, don't know exactly what.

[toystorymania]

Did you see the fast footwork ? ... the delayed double salchow ? The inside axle ? The special position of the arms in jumps ... the one foot axle ? the jump... i believe a double salchow out of a spin ? the amazing speed of the spins ? WE DONT SEE THIS ANYMORE... He is a unique and fanstastic skater !

[melissa7638]

ive met him before, he is such a nice man

[toystorymania]

Me too... yes very nice

[youtiggg]

Donald Jackson is my friends Grandpa

[faeryquene]

Your friend's Grandpa is a living legend. :)

[desglacons]

The man is infinitely skilled....awesome!

[Mother3Earth]

Holy shit 3:45 that's amazing

[crazyonaroof]

he still does double jumps

[yishan13]

Dman89x :

Yup I do...how do you know??Do you??

[HattieLovesCattie]

I still can't get used to skaters landing on their left feet than their right feet.I also love those old rinks and how people could sit right at the edges.One of the practice rinks in Lake Placid is like that.

[dvdneely]

the height on his jumps was insane! and his spins were incredible. thank you for this vid...we need to remember these legends!

[yishan13]

sweet..did you know now he coaches skating in ottawa and hes my coach!!!!!!!!!

[Dman89x]

so you skate from minto huh?

[florianlepatineur]

amazing skater !!!

[artscoff]

remember seeing him perform at a charity event at solihull ice rink, think it was 1971, awesome to see in the flesh.

[dolcevitausa]

great height on his jumps and excellent speed coming out of them

[npe1]

A great performance, even harder to jump back then because they were not taught to cross legs in jumps like today. Yes, Don's marks have been bettered since - the highest marks ever in figure skating were given to, who else, but Torvill & Dean in 1984 Worlds.

[StewNWT]

Haha Don's cute! I really dislike the stiff arm style from back then, but some crazy walleys and funky jumps. Man that's vintage Dick Button, the two commentators ruining the performance by blowing every suprise before it happens. Great triple lutz.

[StewNWT]

And btw, Don's record has since been broken (#of 6.0's for a world championship performance). I'm sure by more than one skater, but I know Shen and Zhou got like 8 or 9 6.0's for their 2004 world championship performance, even though they were too far behind after the short to win.

[StewNWT]

lol I just checked, Shen and Zhou got 12 6.0's. 2 for technical and 10 for presentation. Course there were more available too

[facepuke]

Where's the NA? I would have loved to see the Red Ensign being raised.

[70zGirl]

Wow - a 5 minute long program, triples in the 60's and score cards on the ice - cool!

[fanieli]

This is the highest triple lutz I've ever seen. Even nowaday skaters can't do that jump as high as he did. Well done!!!

[dolcetto88]

this old video is amazing.. the first triple lutz!

[divan0]

awsome! look at the double jump right from the spin!

[joan05250]

awesome - he looked extremely light!! just breezing past!

[k9henrydog]

I was also struck by the small rink size. Did skaters know ahead of time how big the ice sheet would be? He almost junps out of the rink a few times. When were hockey boards invented?

[k9henrydog]

Wow! Talk about coming full circle. I watched this on ABC television in the cornfields of Illinois, and then spent a lifetime skating. I remember thinking of this moment when I landed my first double lutz (never managed triples). My coach used to teach that straight line swerve into a lutz. I wonder if Don was coached by Gus Lussi, as he was.

[homerhunt]

amazing footage