@pelicanus11 Although I'm new to ice skating (been skating for year), I think she was a really good skater. Sure, she's not doing triples, but she's definitely showing very good skating qualities, and is a joy to watch. :)
What I like about this is the historical value - she made the film the year she won her third gold medal so we can sort of see what her Olympic routines were like as opposed to the more flamboyant "show" routines in her later pictures.
Wish we had the end scene its terrific Sonia was a great skater years ago ok we are more sophisticated but Sonia made skating popular and for that I am forever thankful.
@BunniechanG: your lack of appreciation for the history of THIS sport in particular is "lame". In football pros get fined for showboating ("showboating" look it up if you are scratching your head). A minute of waving and blowing kisses seems like forever. Hence my OPINION doing it for "ages." They can do that at the kiss and cry area. You're right they have earned it but there is a time and place for everything, and a little humility goes a long way. Something you might wish to take stock in.
@lilstar29 you're telling someone to be more humble yet your post is dripping with condescension. you are the one coming in and attacking athletes for doing a little bowing and blowing kisses. the physical pressure skaters are put under today is immensely more than in the past, and it does 10 x more damage to the body. nice try comparing showboating in football to preening after a perf in skating, except it's irrelevant! fb players get paid in millions and have hours to shine.
@lilstar29 ur part of a tiny minority who even cares, the majority of the viewing audience obviously doesn't.that you can even compare a football game that lasts ages and the public visibility and monetary compensation to fs where the prize money is tiny and only olympic skaters make real money, where years of rigorous training is all put on the line for a 4 min performance & yet they bow/blow kisses for less than 1 min and ur panties are in a bunch?ur the one who needs to learn some humility
Look at Evan Lysacek. He's humble. He's brilliant on the ice. So it CAN be accomplished. You can't compare the quality of practice in the 30s to the quality of practice in 2010. Talk about "lame as hell."... that comparison was "lame as hell." The skates weren't even half the quality that they are now, so I'm sure Sonia had a few bloody ankles as well. And each generation worked hard in their levels of skating and what they accomplished.
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
@lilstar29 ur the only person who would compare some obnoxious showboating football player to a skater just bowing and blowing kisses, not only taking in the attention for herself but acknowledging the roaring audience and fans. and to have the gall to actually call that unsportsmanlike. your condescension is sickening, if actual pros and ppl working in the industry agreed w u it'd be a different story but ur the only one getting ur panties in a bunch
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
wow!! she really was amazing!! the sports have progressed so much since! these days, ladies like Mao Asada are landing triple axels! but i do think she was one of the few people who turned figure skating in to a sport!!
Wow, times have changed! My fat ass can do (and have done) all those moves. Someone get me a time machine - it's time to go kick some Nazi sympathizer ass.
I agree with that she looks happy out there- she was ahead of her time. (today's standards completely different). THAT being said, I also love the fact that she doesn't milk the audience for all the applause she can get. A few lady like acknowledgments and off she goes. Not like today's skaters who stay out there blowing kisses and waving and bowing etc for endless minutes. Oh for corn's sake- get off the ice already! Sonia had it right- wave, and go. She was adorable from start to finish.
@lilstar29 lame as hell. what you consider to be them milking the the audience for ages usually lasts about a minute at the longest. the sport has changed since the 30's and skaters of the past few decades consequently have to work much harder, hours upon hours of practice until their ankles bleed. yet you think a minute of soaking in the applause is gratuitous? give me a break! they deserve it after their hard work.
While at the time this was considered great skating and I do enjoy watching her, today she wouldn't even be considered eligible for competition. And some of the arm movements are so funny. Not as funny as Dick Button and the men skaters of his time. The way they held their arms out, and bent. Today Dick is always talking about the skaters extending their arms.
She is adorable. I am watching her skating with my eyes wide open cause she is unbelievable interesting in each moment. Todays skaters half of performance is boring. She is skating with so much joy and hapiness that I adore her cause she makes me happier! Pity, women are not like that today ( and I am a woman).
@Tina29x Ok, so now I have seen that she was cooperating with Nazis. That of course I dont approve, so that is bad, but on the Ice this is the other thing!
The way the audience was applauding this performance, they probably will fall over with a heart attack watching todays skaters perform. lolololololololol!!!!!!!
Ok!! it was a joke but you old timers know it's the truth.
@marellamofo I wouldnt have said that, because even todays jumps are much more complexed we have here also the elements which are difficult! And much interesting interpretation and choreography then many today.
@marellamofo You sound like an arrogant teenager. In another 70 years, you'll be an old timer, if you're still alive, and the teenagers will think the skaters of today look stupid.
And you sound like an arrogant old timer who don't and won't accept progress as it happens before your very eyes. And it's not only with skating your generation is this way. When you have skaters like a Yuna Kim or Mao Asada. A Sasha Cohen or a Mirai Nagasu who are routinely doing triple jumps and neck breaking spends in very complicated positions, then you have to laugh at how people applauded the simplicity of how Sonja Henie skated. Even she would be in awe!!
@smellab1000 Women had only just begun to jump-they had been discouraged because jumps were not considered 'feminine'. It was a different sport then, different equipment.
It was a different world - actually she COULD do an axel (though she doesn't in this sequence) but the technique was different - also what she lacks in jumps compared to todays skaters she makes up for with incredible speed, amazing spins, and mind-boggling foot-work - that said I don't like Sonja Henie - I've heard too many negative things about her character - but she was a pioneer who set the bar for those to come.
It wasn't a different world exactly - it was just different skates.
At one point, skates were simply blades attached to your boots. Over the years, they have become more and more high tech. I seem to remember Michelle Kwan having a difficult competitive year when she was sponsoring (and forced to wear) a brand of skates that just didn't measure up.
I also remember Yagudin in 2000 holding his skates together with masking tape and glue because breaking in new ones was out of the question.
@Chutson353 I noticed that too!!!! Sonja FLIES across the ice! Her spins have tremendous speed too! And I had no idea she could do a double jump. I thought only Cecilia Colledge did one.
If Sonya were young and skating today there is every indication should could be doing what is needed today. She was a superb athlete who kept in shape, gave great attention to detail, and evidenced terrific stamina. She pioneered traveling ice shows and became a leading film star though she could barely act. I wouldn't figure on Sonya in any setting settling for anything less than the best.
@waynebrasler ITA. Sonja was a gifted athlete. With today's equipment, and training I am 100% Sonja would have easily matched her record. She had a God given talent.
wow this is wayyy different from skating now, definitely way easier but i guess in that time it was amazing if you could even skate and balance and turn on ice.
She was obviously great but everything I've heard from those who competed with her is negative - apparently not a very nice person - a Nazi sympathiser who refused to provide assistance to the Norwegian resistance because she didn't want to "offend" her German fans.
I read that in a bio of her by a ex skater friend of hers.She was NOT a nice person and terrible to her Mother.The Norwegians took a long time to forgive her after the war.She also supported the US troops as she had become an American citizen.
I've never seen her skate - my grandfather Bert Clark worked with her for years - did comedy routines in her ice shows and was her stand-in for the setup shots for her movies -- when the cameraman got all the shots down, she would come in and do the routine for the film.
ok shes good but if olimpics were sooooo easy 2day i would have win the gold i mean come on i can lad trimples perfectly(exept for the trimple axle and toe loop)but anyway come onnnnnn!!!!!!!
i think you would'nt be the only one today :D but i guess for that time it was something so extraordinary, that someone could do pirouettes and jumps on the ice. nowadays, almost everybody can do it ;-)
While a wonderful skater, her Nazi connections made her unpopular with a number of people.
Bluebelle9289 1 week ago
I was born in a wrong time :/
raggpants 3 weeks ago
just goes to show that what the top skaters do is really, really difficult. I agree that she likely could have met today`s standards.
Vlasta4444 2 months ago
if we were in 1936, i would be an olympic figure skater.
sk8victorious 2 months ago
@sk8victorious But not as good as Sonja Henie. :D
faeryquene 1 week ago
that man is GORGEOUS
Y0DNA91 4 months ago
1:14 old grandpa was having an erection
SeuMadrugaEmAcapulco 4 months ago
@SeuMadrugaEmAcapulco Old? The young guy with the hat lol?
Heartlezzzz 2 months ago
@Heartlezzzz I believe he is an elderly man nowadays...
SeuMadrugaEmAcapulco 2 months ago
Figure skating had to begin somewhere and she was the best for her era!!!
pelicanus11 6 months ago
@pelicanus11 Although I'm new to ice skating (been skating for year), I think she was a really good skater. Sure, she's not doing triples, but she's definitely showing very good skating qualities, and is a joy to watch. :)
jfluter 2 months ago
she could spin on a button!!!!!!!!
pelicanus11 6 months ago
sad but true...its quite pedestrian compared to modern figure skaters.
diddymuck 8 months ago
my trainer would kill me after such a waltzjump >.<
CardCaptorful 10 months ago
What I like about this is the historical value - she made the film the year she won her third gold medal so we can sort of see what her Olympic routines were like as opposed to the more flamboyant "show" routines in her later pictures.
Chutson353 10 months ago
omg that dress is amazing - i wonder where i could find one just like it!!!
dvdneely 11 months ago
wow at her spread eagle <3
EmmaCat0o 1 year ago
wow at her spread eagle <3
EmmaCat0o 1 year ago
Wow, i couldve been a champion if i lived back then :)
HollywoodGiiirl 1 year ago
True inspiration to any skater. Changed the world of womens skating for us.
samgirl1002 1 year ago
LOLLL at the creepy old guy at 0:09
cw6391 1 year ago 3
1936.. When all it took was a couple singles to win the olympics.
cupcakeskate88 1 year ago
Thank god that pompous ass Pluishy didn win.
HattieLovesCattie 1 year ago
Wish we had the end scene its terrific Sonia was a great skater years ago ok we are more sophisticated but Sonia made skating popular and for that I am forever thankful.
gf1001 1 year ago
i could have won the olympics for many times if i had a time machine
bluoggie 1 year ago
@BunniechanG: your lack of appreciation for the history of THIS sport in particular is "lame". In football pros get fined for showboating ("showboating" look it up if you are scratching your head). A minute of waving and blowing kisses seems like forever. Hence my OPINION doing it for "ages." They can do that at the kiss and cry area. You're right they have earned it but there is a time and place for everything, and a little humility goes a long way. Something you might wish to take stock in.
lilstar29 1 year ago
@lilstar29 you're telling someone to be more humble yet your post is dripping with condescension. you are the one coming in and attacking athletes for doing a little bowing and blowing kisses. the physical pressure skaters are put under today is immensely more than in the past, and it does 10 x more damage to the body. nice try comparing showboating in football to preening after a perf in skating, except it's irrelevant! fb players get paid in millions and have hours to shine.
liliuaorom 1 year ago
@lilstar29 ur part of a tiny minority who even cares, the majority of the viewing audience obviously doesn't.that you can even compare a football game that lasts ages and the public visibility and monetary compensation to fs where the prize money is tiny and only olympic skaters make real money, where years of rigorous training is all put on the line for a 4 min performance & yet they bow/blow kisses for less than 1 min and ur panties are in a bunch?ur the one who needs to learn some humility
liliuaorom 1 year ago
Look at Evan Lysacek. He's humble. He's brilliant on the ice. So it CAN be accomplished. You can't compare the quality of practice in the 30s to the quality of practice in 2010. Talk about "lame as hell."... that comparison was "lame as hell." The skates weren't even half the quality that they are now, so I'm sure Sonia had a few bloody ankles as well. And each generation worked hard in their levels of skating and what they accomplished.
lilstar29 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
lilstar29 1 year ago
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
lilstar29 1 year ago
@lilstar29 ur the only person who would compare some obnoxious showboating football player to a skater just bowing and blowing kisses, not only taking in the attention for herself but acknowledging the roaring audience and fans. and to have the gall to actually call that unsportsmanlike. your condescension is sickening, if actual pros and ppl working in the industry agreed w u it'd be a different story but ur the only one getting ur panties in a bunch
liliuaorom 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
lilstar29 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
lilstar29 1 year ago
@BunniechanG- Hahahahaha I laugh because your clear lack of understanding for sportsman like conduct and showmanship give you away as someone who probably shouldn't be blogging about such a thing. I grew up a skater, and the etiquette I grew up with along with other skaters was wave, blow a kiss and go. Like Sonia. But being humble is important in any sport.
lilstar29 1 year ago
wow! skating has evolved so much! she's winning with waltz jumps! still, she pioneered modern skating
cbarragan9 1 year ago
@cbarragan9 Don't forget that figures were over half the score back then. (Also, this isn't a competitive performance)
idolfan9495 11 months ago
wow!! she really was amazing!! the sports have progressed so much since! these days, ladies like Mao Asada are landing triple axels! but i do think she was one of the few people who turned figure skating in to a sport!!
kianoconnell 2 years ago
Wow, times have changed! My fat ass can do (and have done) all those moves. Someone get me a time machine - it's time to go kick some Nazi sympathizer ass.
bigyellowduck 2 years ago
I agree with that she looks happy out there- she was ahead of her time. (today's standards completely different). THAT being said, I also love the fact that she doesn't milk the audience for all the applause she can get. A few lady like acknowledgments and off she goes. Not like today's skaters who stay out there blowing kisses and waving and bowing etc for endless minutes. Oh for corn's sake- get off the ice already! Sonia had it right- wave, and go. She was adorable from start to finish.
lilstar29 2 years ago
@lilstar29 lame as hell. what you consider to be them milking the the audience for ages usually lasts about a minute at the longest. the sport has changed since the 30's and skaters of the past few decades consequently have to work much harder, hours upon hours of practice until their ankles bleed. yet you think a minute of soaking in the applause is gratuitous? give me a break! they deserve it after their hard work.
BunniechanG 1 year ago
While at the time this was considered great skating and I do enjoy watching her, today she wouldn't even be considered eligible for competition. And some of the arm movements are so funny. Not as funny as Dick Button and the men skaters of his time. The way they held their arms out, and bent. Today Dick is always talking about the skaters extending their arms.
LaughDanceAdam 2 years ago 3
She is adorable. I am watching her skating with my eyes wide open cause she is unbelievable interesting in each moment. Todays skaters half of performance is boring. She is skating with so much joy and hapiness that I adore her cause she makes me happier! Pity, women are not like that today ( and I am a woman).
Tina29x 2 years ago
@Tina29x Ok, so now I have seen that she was cooperating with Nazis. That of course I dont approve, so that is bad, but on the Ice this is the other thing!
Tina29x 2 years ago
The way the audience was applauding this performance, they probably will fall over with a heart attack watching todays skaters perform. lolololololololol!!!!!!!
Ok!! it was a joke but you old timers know it's the truth.
marellamofo 2 years ago 26
@marellamofo I wouldnt have said that, because even todays jumps are much more complexed we have here also the elements which are difficult! And much interesting interpretation and choreography then many today.
Tina29x 2 years ago
@marellamofo You sound like an arrogant teenager. In another 70 years, you'll be an old timer, if you're still alive, and the teenagers will think the skaters of today look stupid.
calexander007 1 year ago
@calexander007
And you sound like an arrogant old timer who don't and won't accept progress as it happens before your very eyes. And it's not only with skating your generation is this way. When you have skaters like a Yuna Kim or Mao Asada. A Sasha Cohen or a Mirai Nagasu who are routinely doing triple jumps and neck breaking spends in very complicated positions, then you have to laugh at how people applauded the simplicity of how Sonja Henie skated. Even she would be in awe!!
marellamofo 1 year ago
@marellamofo Yes, and we know that the audience would have fainted if they saw the effeminate males prancing across the rink like peacocks nowadays!
EVZYL 4 months ago
urgh If i lived before 1955, I would be olympic championn, indeed I can jump all the doubles
smellab1000 2 years ago
@smellab1000 Women had only just begun to jump-they had been discouraged because jumps were not considered 'feminine'. It was a different sport then, different equipment.
faeryquene 2 years ago 3
It was a different world - actually she COULD do an axel (though she doesn't in this sequence) but the technique was different - also what she lacks in jumps compared to todays skaters she makes up for with incredible speed, amazing spins, and mind-boggling foot-work - that said I don't like Sonja Henie - I've heard too many negative things about her character - but she was a pioneer who set the bar for those to come.
Chutson353 2 years ago 3
It wasn't a different world exactly - it was just different skates.
At one point, skates were simply blades attached to your boots. Over the years, they have become more and more high tech. I seem to remember Michelle Kwan having a difficult competitive year when she was sponsoring (and forced to wear) a brand of skates that just didn't measure up.
I also remember Yagudin in 2000 holding his skates together with masking tape and glue because breaking in new ones was out of the question.
jamarsano 2 years ago
@Chutson353 I noticed that too!!!! Sonja FLIES across the ice! Her spins have tremendous speed too! And I had no idea she could do a double jump. I thought only Cecilia Colledge did one.
faeryquene 2 years ago
@faeryquene actually I don't think it's a double - I think it's an axel but it looks like a double
Chutson353 11 months ago
wow! figure skating has changed so much! she can't even do an axel, so technically I'm better than sonja henie! lol!
ewaldvonkleist 2 years ago
the way she lands her jumps is horrible!!!
ThePomiget1 2 years ago
she jumps one direction and spins in the other direction. nowadays you'd get msrkrd down for that....
cfjermedal 2 years ago
@cfjermedal Oh, man... So true.
Russischespionin 2 years ago
wow she is really fast!
chloeyhamer1997 2 years ago 2
If Sonya were young and skating today there is every indication should could be doing what is needed today. She was a superb athlete who kept in shape, gave great attention to detail, and evidenced terrific stamina. She pioneered traveling ice shows and became a leading film star though she could barely act. I wouldn't figure on Sonya in any setting settling for anything less than the best.
waynebrasler 2 years ago 9
@waynebrasler ITA. Sonja was a gifted athlete. With today's equipment, and training I am 100% Sonja would have easily matched her record. She had a God given talent.
faeryquene 2 years ago 2
wow this is wayyy different from skating now, definitely way easier but i guess in that time it was amazing if you could even skate and balance and turn on ice.
Usober 2 years ago
She was obviously great but everything I've heard from those who competed with her is negative - apparently not a very nice person - a Nazi sympathiser who refused to provide assistance to the Norwegian resistance because she didn't want to "offend" her German fans.
Chutson353 2 years ago
I read that in a bio of her by a ex skater friend of hers.She was NOT a nice person and terrible to her Mother.The Norwegians took a long time to forgive her after the war.She also supported the US troops as she had become an American citizen.
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
I've never seen her skate - my grandfather Bert Clark worked with her for years - did comedy routines in her ice shows and was her stand-in for the setup shots for her movies -- when the cameraman got all the shots down, she would come in and do the routine for the film.
johnbresnik 2 years ago
corny movie but a great skater. she paved the way for a lot of future ice stars
dvdneely 2 years ago
She is very pretty to watch
DiamondsOnIce 3 years ago 2
ok shes good but if olimpics were sooooo easy 2day i would have win the gold i mean come on i can lad trimples perfectly(exept for the trimple axle and toe loop)but anyway come onnnnnn!!!!!!!
AniaTheAwesome 3 years ago
i think you would'nt be the only one today :D but i guess for that time it was something so extraordinary, that someone could do pirouettes and jumps on the ice. nowadays, almost everybody can do it ;-)
jennextdoor 2 years ago
love you sonja and emgpatinaje
bleu1187 3 years ago
Very interesting to see what was being done 70 years!!! ago in Figure Ice Skating and to think that these days a 6 year old is doing more :-D
eliroven 3 years ago 2
the spread eagles are good.
LucyFigureSkates 3 years ago