Carole Jane Pachl

Carole Jane (Yarmila) Pachl, (born 23 Dec 1938) is a Canadian former figure skater. She is the 1957 North American silver medallist and a three-time Canadian national champion. She competed at the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Carole Jane Pachl
Personal information
Alternative names	Carole Jane Pachl Yarmila
Country represented	Canada
Born	Prague, Czechoslovakia
Former coach	Gus Lussi, Otto Gold, Arnold Gerschwiler
Skating club	Minto Skating Club Montreal WC
Training locations	Ottawa, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Lake Placid, New York, USA; St. Moritz, Switzerland; England
Retired	1957
Medal record Representing  Canada Figure skating: Ladies' singles North American Championships 1957 Rochester Ladies' singles

Personal life

Carole Jane (Yarmila)[1] Pachl was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia.[2] Her mother, Jarmila née Pošíková, was an actress,[3][4] while her father, Jan Pachl,[5] was a wealthy chocolate manufacturer.[6] Her brother, Rudy, was born a year later.[6] By this time, Nazi Germany had begun its occupation of Czechoslovakia and World War II ensued. Her father, having opposed the Nazis, was imprisoned in a concentration camp and then, following the war, had most of his assets seized by the Communists.[6]

Pachl and her mother resided for some time in England and St. Moritz, Switzerland, before the whole family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After becoming a naturalized Canadian citizen at age ten, four years ahead of the rest of her family, she moved to Lake Placid, New York, where she lived with an American family.[6]

Career

Pachl enjoyed watching figure skating and began practicing seriously at the age of eight after her mother brought her before Swiss coach Arnold Gerschwiler in England.[6] In early 1947, she relocated to St. Moritz, Switzerland, where Gerschwiler continued coaching her.[6]

After her family moved to Canada, Pachl trained in Montreal. Her club's president sponsored her early Canadian citizenship so that she could be sent to Lake Placid, New York to train under Gus Lussi when she was ten years old.[6] She originally competed as Yarmila Pachl.[1]

Pachl represented Montreal WC until 1952–53 and then joined the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa.[7] She was coached by Otto Gold in Ottawa from around 1952.[6] In 1953, she became the Canadian national bronze medallist on both the junior and senior levels. She finished sixth at the 1953 North American Championships in Cleveland and eighth at the 1954 World Championships in Oslo, Norway.

In 1955, Pachl won her first national title and went on to place fourth at the North American Championships and sixth at the World Championships in Vienna. She repeated as the national champion the following season and was named in Canada's team to the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, where she placed sixth.[8]

In 1957, her final competitive season, Pachl won her third national title and silver at the North American Championships. She finished fourth at the 1957 World Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Results

International[7]
Event	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957
Winter Olympics						6th
World Championships				8th	6th		4th
North American Champ.			6th		4th		2nd
National[7]
Canadian Champ.			3rd		1st	1st	1st
Canadian Champ.	3rd J	3rd J	3rd J
J: Junior level

References

1. "Miss Morrow, Firstbrook Take Senior Skate Titles". Montreal Gazette. February 12, 1951.
2. "Carole Jane Pachl". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
3. Tejedor, Chrystian (August 25, 2006). "Jarmila Pachl, Movie Actress". Sun-Sentinel.
4. "Jan PACHL". federationgenealogie.qc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30.
5. "Jarmila PACHL". federationgenealogie.qc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30.
6. "Carole Jane Pachl". Ottawa Citizen. December 3, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
7. "Skate Canada Results" (PDF). Skate Canada.
8. Stepler, Jack (February 3, 1956). "Jack Frost Stealing Show At Olympics, Says Stepler". Southam News Services. Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved June 22, 2010.