contents
The Swiss cult figure skater published her biography before her 60th birthday.
The ice surface steams in the morning sun. Denise Biellmann gives instructions, shows the processes, encourages and explains. The 59-year-old from Zurich is still on the ice every day, more than 40 years after her greatest success. Biellmann trains young figure skaters on the Dolder ice rink on the Zürichberg.
Legend:
Denise Biellmann, who was only 13 at the time, training on the Dolder ice rink. Even then she practiced the famous pirouette, which was later named after her.
key stone
It was here that she discovered her passion for sport as a young girl. “I took my first steps on this ice when I was three years old and spent a large part of my childhood,” says Biellmann. The ice still has a magical attraction for her today. “I can’t imagine Denise without ice cream.”
Always in the luggage – a tube of mayonnaise
Denise Biellmann’s talent was discovered early on. And also their somewhat special eating habits. For a while she only ate raw vegetables, potatoes or veal sausage. On every trip abroad, she had a tube of mayonnaise in her luggage. And three hours before certain competitions, she had to eat a certain cake. “My mother or my partner ran from shop to shop looking for this cake,” jokes Denise Biellmann.
This effort has obviously paid off. Biellmann was the first woman in the world to jump a triple Lutz. At the age of eight she won her first international competition in Belgium, at the age of eleven she became Swiss Junior Champion and at the age of only 14 she won the silver medal at her first European Championships. But Biellmann celebrated her greatest successes in 1981. First she became European Champion in Innsbruck and a little later World Champion in the USA.
Legend:
Denise Biellmann was a regular guest not only at sporting competitions, but also at international shows. She appeared several times at the internationally renowned ice show “Holiday On Ice”. And she worked for the Swiss counterpart “Art On Ice” for seven years – most recently in 2003.
key stone
Denise Biellmann is now telling her story in a book. The biography is a collection of experiences. Putting her life on paper was very intense. She had many conversations with the ghostwriter Yvonne Eckert, read, corrected and supplemented chapter by chapter – over a period of four months. Denise Biellmann says she even worked on the book during the holidays.
But their experiences were well documented – thanks to Biellmann’s mother. ‘She kept all the newspaper articles about me. I was able to read one or the other story again in detail.” Biellmann proudly looks back on her almost 60 years of life and her unprecedented career as a figure skater. “I’m lucky that I was able to live out my passion.”