February 19, 1928: Sonia Henie wins the Gold Medal in Ladies' Figure Skating at the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, in the Swiss Alps.
"Ladies" may have been a bit of a stretch: She was only 15 years old.
Sonia Henie -- apparently, her entire birth name -- was born on April 8, 1912, in Kristiana, the capital of Norway. The name of the city was changed to Oslo in 1925. Figure skating is an expensive sport to pursue, but her father, Wilhelm Henie was a wealthy furrier.
Just as importantly, he was an athlete, a world cycling champion in 1894, and he encouraged his children, Sonja and her older brother Leif, to take up sports. Sonia did well in tennis, swimming and equestrian events. But skating was where he true talent lay, and after seeing the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova perform in London, she tried to pattern her skating style after her. At the 1st Winter Olympics, in Chamonix, France in 1924, she finished 8th -- and she was only 11 years old.
More than any other region, the Alps have hosted the Winter Olympics: France, Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968, and Albertville in 1992; Switzerland, St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948; Germany, Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936; Italy, Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 and Turin in 2006; and Austria, Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976. Indeed, except for Lake Placid, New York, in the U.S. in 1932, the Winter Games wouldn't be held outside the Alps until 1952, when they were held in Henie's hometown of Oslo.
For the 1928 Winter Games, the Opening Ceremony, on February 11, was hit by a blizzard. Then the opposite happened: The weather quickly warmed up, causing lots of problems, as most events were still outdoors.
Out of a possible 14 events, the U.S. won 2 Gold Medals: In the now-defunct event of the 5-man bobsled, and in the later-discontinued, since-restored event of skeleton, won by Jennison Heaton. In each case, Americans also won the Silver Medal. Switzerland won just 1 medal, a Bronze, which remains the worst performance ever by a host nation at an Olympic Games, Summer or Winter. Norway led the way with 15 Medals, 6 of them Gold, including Henie's.
Henie would also win in 1932, in Lake Placid; and in 1936, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Later in 1936, she starred in the film One In a Million, and made a living in professional skating shows and, for all intents and purposes, playing herself in movies, for which she was paid as much as anybody in Hollywood. The surviving footage shows that her moves would now be considered rather basic; but, at the time, nobody had ever seen anything like it.
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As a European celebrity of the 1930s, she made the acquaintance of the various national leaders of the time, including the Chancellor of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, who was rather taken with her, and once gave her a photograph with an autograph and a long inscription. In spite of this, and in spite of her match for the Nordic physical ideal, there is no evidence that she ever accepted the Nazi philosophy.
She married 3 times, but had no children. Her 1st husband was Dan Topping, but she divorced him shortly after he became a part-owner of baseball's New York Yankees. Her 3rd husband was a Norwegian shipping magnate, Niels Onstad, and, together, they built a substantial art collection. She died of leukemia on October 12, 1969, only 57 years old.
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February 19, 1928 was a Sunday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. There were 2 games in the NHL. The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 2-0 at the new building that would eventually be known as "the old Madison Square Garden." And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Cougars, the team that would become known as the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
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