14 Facts About Petra Burka

Petra Burka is a Canadian former competitive figure skater and now coach.

Petra Burka won the 1964 Olympic bronze medal in women's figure skating and the 1965 World championship in the sport.

Petra Burka was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands on November 17,1946, the daughter of Dutch figure skater and coach Ellen Burka and a Czech-born artist, Jan Burka.

Petra Burka began skating lessons at the age of 10 or 11.

At the 1962 Canadian Championships, Petra Burka became the first woman to land a triple Salchow and came away with the silver medal.

Petra Burka finished in fourth place in her World Championship debut in Prague in the same year.

Petra Burka won the first of her three consecutive senior national titles in 1964 and represented Canada at the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, winning the bronze medal.

Petra Burka became the first Canadian skater to perform in the Soviet Union when she appeared in a two-week tour in Moscow and Kyiv.

Petra Burka won bronze at the 1964 World Championships in Dortmund.

Petra Burka was the gold medalist at the 1965 World Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado, becoming the first Canadian woman to win Worlds since Barbara Ann Scott in 1947.

Petra Burka took bronze at the 1966 World Championships and retired from competition.

Petra Burka signed with Holiday On Ice, skating with the tour until 1969.

Petra Burka then took on coaching as well as being a commentator on figure skating events for CBC and CBS for Olympic, World, European and Canadian championships.

Petra Burka was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.