Background
Vivi-Anne Hultén was born in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1942, she married Gene Theslof, a Finnish figure skater and gymnast, with whom she had a son of the same name.
Vivi-Anne Hultén was born in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1942, she married Gene Theslof, a Finnish figure skater and gymnast, with whom she had a son of the same name.
Hultén was coached by the brother of Gillis Grafström. She finished fifth at the 1932 Winter Olympics. In 1933, she finished second to Sonia Henie at the 1933 World Championships, held in Stockholm.
Swedish newspapers named her the country"s all-time female athlete.
A lake in Budapest has a statue of her performing a spiral. After turning professional, Hultén toured with the Ice Follies, Ice Cycles, and Ice Capades.
She formed an adagio pair with Gene Theslof, who had skated with Henie for seven years, and toured the United States and Europe with him. In the mid 1960s, she settled in the United States and opened a large skating school in Saint Paul, Minnesota with Theslof.
Hultén was hired as a skating coach by Herb Brooks for his Minnesota North Stars hockey team
She performed for the King and Queen of Sweden and also skated in ten ice shows with Ice Capades in Minneapolis, Minnesota at age 80. She actively taught on the ice until age 86.