Tyke Richardson

Tyke Richardson, known to his friends as “TD”, was dedicated to figure skating for a large part of his life. He first skated at the age of four, and part of his education saw him schooled in Lausanne, as well as at Scarborough and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. At the turn of the 20th century, in his early teens, Richardson went to Grindelwald, Switzerland, and took up skating seriously. He joined the National Skating Association in 1905 and set about changing the way British skaters performed, from a formal, to a more informal and free-flowing style. He took lessons from some of Europe’s best exponents and in the years immediately prior to the outbreak of World War I, won several titles with Mildred Allingham, whom he married in 1915. During the War, Richardson served as a captain in the Army, and after the hostilities, the duo picked up their skating careers and were runners-up in the 1923 British Championship, before going to Chamonix for the first Winter Olympics the following year.

Richardson later became a skating judge, and wrote the internationally acclaimed book Modern Figure Skating amongst others. His other works saw him contribute to The Field, the Encyclopedia Britannica and Skating World, and he was also the winter sports correspondent for The Times from just after the end of World War II until 1958, when he then wrote for the Daily Telegraph for two years. He was awarded the OBE for his services to British skating.

A keen all-round sportsman, Richardson was a boxing Blue at Cambridge, enjoyed golf and curling, twice rowed in the Boat Race trials, and represented the Thames Rowing Club in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley.

Richardson was chef de mission of the British Olympic team at the 1936 Winter Games.