1. Valda Osborn was the 1953 European champion and World bronze medalist.
15 Facts About Valda Osborn
1. 2.
Valda Osborn was born in Wembley, Middlesex on 17 September 1934.
3.
Valda Osborn was taught by Arnold Gerschwiler, who was her only coach during her entire amateur career.
4.
At age 5, Valda Osborn won her first competition for "Under Sixes".
5.
Valda Osborn moved to the Richmond Ice Rink, the only rink left open during the war.
6.
Valda Osborn was the youngest skater to pass her Gold and continues to hold the record.
7.
Valda Osborn continued skating at Richmond during and after the war.
8.
Valda Osborn became the British national champion in 1952 and was selected for the 1952 Winter Olympics, where she finished 11th.
9.
In 1953, Valda Osborn won her second national title and went on to win gold at the European Championships in Dortmund.
10.
Valda Osborn remains the last British skater to win the European title in ladies' singles.
11.
Valda Osborn was interviewed on the BBC radio show In Town Tonight.
12.
Valda Osborn starred in Tom Arnold's Ice Circus in Brighton and Tom Arnold's Robinson Crusoe on Ice in the winter of 1953 at the Grand Theatre, Leeds.
13.
Valda Osborn then turned to coaching ice skaters in Manchester, Whitley Bay, Brighton and finally in Richmond.
14.
Valda Osborn spent thirteen years in Northern Cyprus and then settled in Rustington, West Sussex, on the English south coast.
15.
Valda Osborn died in Horsham, West Sussex on 28 December 2022, at the age of 88.