Canadian figure skater
Donald Jackson
CM OOnt |
|---|
| Full name | Donald George Jackson |
|---|
| Born | (1940-04-02) April 2, 1940 (age 84)
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada |
|---|
|
| Country |  Canada |
|---|
|
Donald George Jackson, CM OOnt (born April 2, 1940) is a Canadian retired figure skater. He is the 1962 World Champion, four-time Canadian national champion, and 1960 Olympic bronze medallist. At the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he landed the first triple Lutz jump in international competition and won the world title.[1][2]
Biography
Jackson was coached by Pierre Brunet in New York City, where he lived with the family of 1960 Olympic Champion Carol Heiss.[3]
He won a bronze medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics at the age of 19.[4][5]
In both 1959 and 1960, he won a silver medal at the World Championships.[5] The 1961 event was cancelled after the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of many of Jackson's contemporaries in the US figure skating team. He had not been scheduled to attend the championships that year and was luckily not on board the fatal flight.[3] In 1962, at the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Jackson became world champion and made history by landing the first triple Lutz in international competition.[5]
He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1962,[6] and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1977.[5][7]
Jackson is the former director of skating and was also a coach at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa, Ontario.[6]
In 1997, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada (CM).[6][7][8] He was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.[9]
In 2004, Jackson was included in the first induction of the Lisgar Collegiate Institute Athletic Wall of Fame, as part of the 160th Anniversary celebrations.[10]
In 2012, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario (OOnt).[11]
In May 2016, aged 76 years old, Jackson appeared in a couple of Stars on Ice shows in Canada, performing a duet with Kurt Browning. His part included an Axel jump and a waltz jump.[12]
Canada
