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| Event type

Singles, Men

Date2 – 5 February 1948
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympia-Eisstadion Badrutts Park, St. Moritz
Participants16 from 10 countries
FormatEach judge ranked each skater by Ordinal Placement from first through last place. The Ordinal Placement for each judge was based on Total Points awarded by that judge to the skaters. The points were based on 60% for Compulsory Figures and 40% for Free Skating, with the tiebreaker for each judge being Compulsory Figure Points. Final placement was determined by a Majority Placement rule. Thus, if a skater was ranked first by a majority of the judges, that skater was placed first overall, and the process was repeated for each place. If no absolute majority for a place existed, the tiebreakers were, in order: 1) Total Ordinals, 2) Total Points, 3) Compulsory Figure Points.
Judge #1MacDonald BeaumontGBR
Judge #2Émile FinsterwaldSUI
Judge #3Bernard FoxUSA
Judge #4Vladimír KoudelkaTCH
Judge #5Ernst LabinAUT
Judge #6Marcel NicaiseBEL
Judge #7Melville RogersCAN
Judge #8Sven SørensenDEN
Judge #9Elemér TertákHUN

Dick Button, in 1948 an 18-year old freshman from Harvard, had been the leading US male figure skater after winning his first senior US Championships in 1946. In the first World Championships after the World War II, in Stockholm 1947, he was beaten by Hans Gerschwiler of Switzerland, who won the compulsory figures but was beaten by the young American in the free skating. At the European Championships 1948 in Prague two weeks before the Olympics, (ISU Championships were open to non-Europeans in 1947 and 1948) Button faced Gerschwiler again, and this time the American won an undisputed title. Two days before the Olympic free skating event, Button successfully landed a double Axel in a training session. Having a scant lead over Gerschwiler after the compulsory figures, Button decided to include the double Axel in his free skating program. He successfully landed the jump, being the first ever figure skater to do that in a competition, and won the gold medal with a clear margin.

At the World Championships in Davos one week later Button won his first World title, again ahead of Gerschwiler, who then turned professional. The bronze medallist from St. Moritz, Austrian Edi Rada, had to withdraw after the compulsory figures due to the failure of his skates, and Hungarian Ede Király (5th in the Olympics) was able to outscore US skater John Lettengarver (4th in the Olympics) in a close battle for the bronze medal.

PosSkaterNOCMaj. PlacementsOrdinalsPointsReducedJudge #1Judge #2Judge #3Judge #4Judge #5Judge #6Judge #7Judge #8Judge #9
1Dick ButtonUSA8×1+10.01,720.6191.177190.5 (1)184.4 (2)199.4 (1)195.3 (1)189.1 (1)191.4 (1)187.8 (1)194.9 (1)187.8 (1)Gold
2Hans GerschwilerSUI5×2+23.01,630.1181.122174.5 (2)185.3 (1)171.6 (5)185.1 (2)186.5 (3)183.5 (2)178.6 (3)180.1 (2)184.9 (3)Silver
3Edi RadaAUT6×3+33.01,603.2178.133170.3 (7)176.8 (3)176.0 (3)182.8 (3)186.6 (2)179.4 (3)178.4 (4)167.9 (6)185.0 (2)Bronze
4John LettengarverUSA6×4+36.01,587.6176.400174.1 (3)170.7 (4)184.1 (2)177.4 (5)177.1 (6)176.1 (4)181.0 (2)176.5 (3)170.6 (7)
5Ede KirályHUN8×5+42.01,569.6174.400170.8 (5)169.2 (5)164.4 (6)179.3 (4)181.9 (4)172.1 (5)176.2 (5)171.9 (4)183.8 (4)
6Jim GroganUSA5×6+62.01,518.4168.711170.6 (6)161.6 (7)174.1 (4)168.8 (8)166.6 (10)170.8 (6)175.3 (6)168.2 (5)162.4 (10)
7Graham SharpGBR5×7+67.01,503.4167.044173.6 (4)159.6 (9)154.3 (10)170.2 (7)172.5 (8)164.8 (10)166.8 (7)167.5 (7)174.1 (5)
8Hellmut MayAUT6×8+68.01,491.0165.666163.7 (8)165.6 (6)154.6 (9)172.2 (6)177.2 (5)165.0 (9)156.2 (11)164.1 (8)172.4 (6)
9Helmut SeibtAUT5×8+79.01,463.9162.655159.2 (10)160.5 (8)155.2 (7)163.7 (10)173.4 (7)166.9 (8)154.6 (12)163.5 (9)166.9 (8)
10Ladislav ČápTCH5×9+96.01,442.1160.233160.8 (9)156.1 (13)150.4 (13)168.2 (9)168.8 (9)157.5 (12)159.5 (9)157.0 (13)163.8 (9)
11Fernand LeemansBEL6×12+104.01,420.4157.822149.7 (14)157.6 (11)152.4 (11)156.0 (13)162.8 (11)170.7 (7)154.2 (13)157.0 (12)160.0 (12)
12Wallace DiestelmeyerCAN6×12+110.01,406.9156.322151.9 (13)155.4 (14)150.6 (12)157.4 (12)162.7 (12)159.3 (11)149.5 (14)159.1 (11)161.0 (11)
13Zdeněk FikarTCH7×13+114.01,387.4154.155154.6 (12)157.4 (12)134.7 (15)159.4 (11)161.0 (13)155.5 (13)158.3 (10)150.0 (15)156.5 (13)
14Karl EnderlinSUI6×14+110.01,388.2154.244156.0 (11)159.3 (10)155.1 (8)148.9 (15)147.6 (15)152.5 (14)161.1 (8)154.3 (14)153.4 (15)
15Carlo FassiITA5×15+135.01,313.7145.966139.0 (16)145.2 (15)142.1 (14)149.2 (14)155.3 (14)144.0 (16)143.5 (16)141.7 (16)153.7 (14)
16Per Cock-ClausenDEN9×16+135.01,309.8145.533144.4 (15)144.3 (16)126.7 (16)139.9 (16)145.4 (16)151.3 (15)147.3 (15)160.6 (10)149.9 (16)

Compulsory Figures (2 February 1948 — 09:30)

Judge #1MacDonald BeaumontGBR
Judge #2Émile FinsterwaldSUI
Judge #3Bernard FoxUSA
Judge #4Vladimír KoudelkaTCH
Judge #5Ernst LabinAUT
Judge #6Marcel NicaiseBEL
Judge #7Melville RogersCAN
Judge #8Sven SørensenDEN
Judge #9Elemér TertákHUN
PosOrdSkaterNOCMaj. PlacementsOrdinalsReducedJudge #1Judge #2Judge #3Judge #4Judge #5Judge #6Judge #7Judge #8Judge #9
1Dick ButtonUSA6×1+14.0994.7110.522108.6 (1)106.0 (2)116.1 (1)113.4 (1)108.6 (2)110.9 (1)110.8 (1)112.3 (1)108.0 (4)
2Hans GerschwilerSUI6×2+20.0965.1107.233101.0 (3)109.0 (1)106.5 (3)110.9 (2)109.5 (1)109.3 (2)105.1 (4)105.2 (2)108.6 (2)
3Edi RadaAUT5×3+33.5941.0104.55698.9 (5)103.3 (3)103.9 (=4)109.3 (3)108.2 (3)105.9 (3)104.2 (5)98.6 (6)108.7 (1)
4John LettengarverUSA5×4+44.0916.3101.81199.9 (4)99.3 (6)107.8 (2)101.8 (7)101.5 (7)101.9 (4)106.1 (2)101.6 (4)96.4 (8)1
5Ede KirályHUN5×4+47.0922.1102.45698.0 (6)100.6 (5)97.9 (9)106.5 (4)106.3 (4)97.2 (10)105.5 (3)101.9 (3)108.2 (3)
6Graham SharpGBR5×5+47.5909.8101.089101.5 (2)98.7 (7)103.9 (=4)103.7 (5)101.8 (6)99.0 (6)98.9 (7)101.0 (5)101.3 (5)
7Hellmut MayAUT5×6+64.0893.299.24495.8 (9)98.4 (8)101.4 (6)102.2 (6)103.0 (5)99.2 (5)94.6 (12)98.3 (7)100.3 (6)
8Helmut SeibtAUT6×8+71.0882.998.10096.2 (8)101.0 (4)99.2 (7)97.2 (9)101.3 (8)98.3 (9)95.1 (11)97.0 (8)97.6 (7)
9Jim GroganUSA5×9+80.0867.496.37897.1 (7)94.4 (10)98.5 (8)95.3 (10)94.5 (10)98.7 (7)101.8 (6)96.8 (9)90.3 (13)
10Ladislav ČápTCH6×10+88.0859.095.44494.3 (10)92.4 (11)95.8 (10)99.6 (8)97.4 (9)94.5 (11)95.8 (8)94.7 (12)94.5 (9)
11Fernand LeemansBEL5×11+98.5838.093.11187.4 (13)91.1 (13)92.9 (11)92.3 (12)92.8 (12)98.6 (8)95.4 (9)95.4 (=10)92.1 (10)
12Zdeněk FikarTCH6×12+107.0819.091.00089.5 (12)95.1 (9)83.6 (15)92.9 (11)93.1 (11)89.7 (13)95.3 (10)89.1 (14)90.7 (12)
13Wallace DiestelmeyerCAN6×13+116.5809.189.90084.7 (15)90.3 (14)86.2 (13)89.5 (13)91.3 (13)94.2 (12)86.5 (15)95.4 (=10)91.0 (11)
14Karl EnderlinSUI5×14+124.0796.788.52290.2 (11)91.4 (12)92.1 (12)83.8 (16)84.6 (15)83.2 (16)93.9 (13)89.2 (15)88.3 (14)
15Per Cock-ClausenDEN5×14+132.0785.587.27887.0 (14)86.9 (16)84.7 (14)85.3 (15)83.8 (16)86.9 (14)90.6 (14)94.1 (13)86.2 (16)
16Carlo FassiITA5×15+137.0764.984.98976.0 (16)87.1 (15)81.9 (16)86.2 (14)90.2 (14)86.6 (15)84.7 (16)85.0 (16)87.2 (15)

Free Skating (5 February 1948 — 14:45)

Free Skating points computed by multiplying Free Skating score by 7.0.

Judge #1MacDonald BeaumontGBR
Judge #2Émile FinsterwaldSUI
Judge #3Bernard FoxUSA
Judge #4Vladimír KoudelkaTCH
Judge #5Ernst LabinAUT
Judge #6Marcel NicaiseBEL
Judge #7Melville RogersCAN
Judge #8Sven SørensenDEN
Judge #9Elemér TertákHUN
PosOrdSkaterNOCMaj. PlacementsOrdinalsReducedJudge #1Judge #2Judge #3Judge #4Judge #5Judge #6Judge #7Judge #8Judge #9
1Dick ButtonUSA9×1+9.0725.980.65681.9 (1)78.4 (1)83.3 (1)81.9 (1)80.5 (1)80.5 (1)77.0 (1)82.6 (1)79.8 (1)
2John LettengarverUSA5×3+27.5671.374.58974.2 (2)71.4 (4)76.3 (2)75.6 (2)75.6 (=4)74.2 (=3)74.9 (2)74.9 (=2)74.2 (5)
3Hans GerschwilerSUI5×3+30.5665.073.88973.5 (=3)76.3 (2)65.1 (6)74.2 (3)77.0 (3)74.2 (=3)73.5 (=4)74.9 (=2)76.3 (=2)
4Edi RadaAUT5×4+37.0662.273.57871.4 (7)73.5 (3)72.1 (4)73.5 (=4)78.4 (2)73.5 (5)74.2 (3)69.3 (6)76.3 (=2)
5Ede KirályHUN7×5+42.5647.571.94472.8 (5)68.6 (5)66.5 (5)72.8 (6)75.6 (=4)74.9 (2)70.7 (6)70.0 (5)75.6 (4)
6Jim GroganUSA5×5+48.5651.072.33373.5 (=3)67.2 (=7)75.6 (3)73.5 (=4)72.1 (=7)72.1 (=6)73.5 (=4)71.4 (4)72.1 (=7)
7Hellmut MayAUT5×8+82.0597.866.42267.9 (8)67.2 (=7)53.2 (13)70.0 (7)74.2 (6)65.8 (=10)61.6 (12)65.8 (10)72.1 (=7)
8Graham SharpGBR6×11+88.0593.665.95672.1 (6)60.9 (13)50.4 (15)66.5 (=11)70.7 (11)65.8 (=10)67.9 (7)66.5 (=7)72.8 (6)
9Wallace DiestelmeyerCAN6×10+89.0597.866.42267.2 (9)65.1 (10)64.4 (7)67.9 (9)71.4 (=9)65.1 (13)63.0 (=10)63.7 (12)70.0 (9)
10Karl EnderlinSUI6×11+95.0591.565.72265.8 (11)67.9 (6)63.0 (8)65.1 (13)63.0 (15)69.3 (8)67.2 (8)65.1 (11)65.1 (15)
11Ladislav ČápTCH6×11+98.0583.164.78966.5 (10)63.7 (11)54.6 (12)68.6 (8)71.4 (=9)63.0 (15)63.7 (9)62.3 (13)69.3 (=10)
12Helmut SeibtAUT5×11+97.5581.064.55663.0 (=13)59.5 (14)56.0 (11)66.5 (=11)72.1 (=7)68.6 (9)59.5 (13)66.5 (=7)69.3 (=10)
13Fernand LeemansBEL5×12+107.0582.464.71162.3 (15)66.5 (9)59.5 (10)63.7 (14)70.0 (12)72.1 (=6)58.8 (=14)61.6 (14)67.9 (12)2
14Zdeněk FikarTCH5×12+113.0568.463.15665.1 (12)62.3 (12)51.1 (14)66.5 (=11)67.9 (13)65.8 (=10)63.0 (=10)60.9 (15)65.8 (14)3
15Carlo FassiITA7×15+126.0548.860.97863.0 (=13)58.1 (15)60.2 (9)63.0 (15)65.1 (14)57.4 (16)58.8 (=14)56.7 (16)66.5 (13)
16Per Cock-ClausenDEN9×16+135.0524.358.25657.4 (16)57.4 (16)42.0 (16)54.6 (16)61.6 (16)64.4 (14)56.7 (16)66.5 (9)63.7 (16)