Career

Helli Sengstschmid was active at the same time as her compatriot Regina Heitzer and the Dutch skater Sjoukje Dijkstra, just as with the Soviet figure skating couple Protopopov from Street St. Petersburg. In Austrian Championships she always came second or third place behind Regina Heitzer, even if she almost always got the best marks for her free skating performance. With the age of 15 her trainer Karl Schäfer invited her to practice in the United States for half a year (New York and Lake Placid), where she lived with his family.

At the European Championship 1959/60, after having reached the twelfth place in compulsory figures, her free skating performance lifted her into the sixth place overall.

She was the first female skater who did a triple Salchow. At the Olympic Games 1964 in Innsbruck/Austria she ranked 18th after the compulsory figures, and reached the 9th place overall with the third-best free skating appearance.

In addition to her athletic career she took her school-leaving exam before she studied sports and English. Foreign many years she was working as a trainer at Innsbruck’s figure skating club UEK and as a secondary school teacher for English and gymnastics.

At present she devotes herself to her hobbies, such as skiing, painting, swimming and travelling.

Achievements

• Her trainers included Mr. Steiner, Mistress Appeltauer, Mr. Wenninger as well as skater Karl Schäfer (eight-time Austrian champion, eight-time European champion, seven-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion). At the European Championships 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965 (in Moscow) she always won fourth place, at all World Championships between 1962 and 1965, with ranks between sixths and eighth place she always reached the Top Ten.