Herma Szabo was an Austrian singles and pairs figure skater.
Background
Szabo was born in Vienna, where she came from a family of figure skaters. Her mother was Christa von Szabo, a two time world medalist in pairs figure skating and her uncle was Eduard Engelmann Junior., a three time European Champion in men"s figure skating, who built the first artificial ice rink.
Career
She competed as a figure skater under different surnames, which include von Szabó, Plank-Szabo, Planck-Szabo, Jarosz-Szabo and Jaross-Szabo. At the Olympics, she helped modernize ladies"s figure skating by wearing a skirt cut above the knee. High-cut skirts allowed for more freedom of movement in the legs.
Despite this, Sonja Henie is usually credited with being the first to wear short skirts in competition.
Szabo did not compete in the Europeans because the ladies and pair events were not established until 1930. In addition, she was also an early pioneer in pairs figure skating, where she competed with Ludwig Wrede.
She is the only skater to hold a simultaneous world titles in pairs and singles. She retired in 1927 after she was defeated by Sonja Henie of Norway at the World Championships.
This result was controversial because the judging panel consisted of three Norwegians, a German, and an Austrian.
The three Norwegian judges placed Henie first, while the German and Austrian judges placed Szabo first. She became disillusioned with the sport and never skated again. Henie offered her a rematch years later, but she refused to participate.
Her abrupt retirement, led her partner Wrede, to find a different partner for the 1928 Olympic Games, but not with the same success.
Despite the bitter end to her career, Szabo was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1982. She died at age 84 in Rottenmann, Styria.
Ladies singles
Pairs (with Ludwig Wrede).