Carol Heiss

Carol Elizabeth Heiss was born January 20, 1940 in New York City, and grew up in Ozone Park, Queens. Both her parents were German immigrants. She started skating at six years old. Her younger sister and brother, Nancy Heiss and Bruce Heiss, were also elite figure skating competitors. During the 1950s, the three skating Heiss siblings were featured in publications such as Life magazine. ==Career==

Competitive After some early victories in regional youth skating, she came to national prominence in 1951, when she won the U.S. novice ladies' title at age 11. Coached by Pierre Brunet, she won the junior women's singles title at the national championships in 1952. She moved up to the senior level in 1953. From 1953 to 1956, she finished second to Tenley Albright at the national championships. She competed with a slashed Achilles' tendon at the 1954 U.S. Championships. After the 1956 Winter Olympics, Heiss had offers to turn professional and skate in ice shows. But her mother, Marie Heiss, was quite ill with cancer at the time, and before her death in October 1956, she asked Carol to win a gold medal for her. Between 1957 and 1960, Heiss dominated women's figure skating like nobody since Sonja Henie. She was the World and U.S. Champion each year, and at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, Heiss captured the gold medal, being ranked first by all nine judges. She also took the Olympic Oath as representative of the organizing country to open the 1960 games. She was coached by Pierre Brunet. By winning the 1960 World Championships held after the Olympics, Heiss became one of three women to have won five consecutive World Championships. She then retired from competitive skating. Tonia Kwiatkowski, and Miki Ando. ==Personal life==

During her competitive career, Heiss attended New York University, graduating after the 1960 Winter Olympics. In 1961, she married American figure skater Hayes Alan Jenkins, who had won the 1956 Olympic gold medal. They have three children together. ==Results==