Barbara Roles
Barbara Ann Roles | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Barbara Ann Roles | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other names | Barbara Ann Roles-Pursley Barbara Roles Williams | ||||||||||||||||||||
Born | San Mateo, California | April 6, 1941||||||||||||||||||||
Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
Skating club | Arctic Blades | ||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 1960, 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Olympic medal record | ||
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Women's figure skating | ||
Representing United States | ||
1960 Squaw Valley | Singles |
Barbara Ann Roles (married names: Pursley, Williams), born April 6, 1941)[1] is an American former figure skater who currently works as a coach. She is the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist and the 1962 U.S. national champion.
Personal life
Barbara Ann Roles is the daughter of Carl A. Roles.[2] After retiring in 1960, she married and had a baby.[3] The child was named Shelley Pursley Boatright. In 1962, she gave birth to a son, Ronald Dean Pursley Chorak. She chose his middle name to honor her mentor, Deane McMinn, who died in the 1961 plane crash. She is the stepmother[citation needed] of U.S. skater Scott Williams.
Career
Roles won the U.S. junior title in 1958. The next year, she won the senior bronze medal and was assigned to her first World Championships, where she placed fifth. After taking silver at the 1960 U.S. Championships, Roles was sent to the 1960 Winter Olympics and 1960 World Championships. She won the bronze medal at both competitions. She retired following that season and started a family.
Roles was asked to come out of retirement following the crash of Sabena Flight 548, which killed the entire 1961 U.S. figure skating team.[3][4] She complied and won the gold medal at the 1962 U.S. Championships, making her the first skater[citation needed] to win U.S. national titles on the novice, junior and senior levels. Roles was the only skater to accomplish this until Kimmie Meisner performed the same feat in 2007. She missed the 1963 season to give birth to her second child.
Roles returned to competition in an attempt to qualify for the 1964 Winter Olympics, but placed fifth at the national championships and failed to make the team.[5] She later took up coaching; her pupils have included Lisa-Marie Allen, Wendy Burge, Nicole Bobek, Brian Pockar, Vikki DeVries, Geoffry Varner, and Scott Williams.
Results
International | ||||||||
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Event | 1956 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 |
Winter Olympics | 3rd | |||||||
World Championships | 5th | 3rd | 5th | |||||
National | ||||||||
U.S. Championships | 1st N. | 1st J. | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | ||
Levels: N. = Novice; J. = Junior |
References
- ^ "Barbara Ann Roles". Sports-reference.
- ^ "Barbara Ann Roles". Los Angeles Times. January 15, 2002.
- ^ a b Duffy, Bob (December 31, 2000). "Twists of fate". The Boston Globe.
- ^ Nichols, Nikki (2006). Frozen in Time: The Enduring Legacy of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Team. Emmis Books. ISBN 1-57860-260-2.
- ^ Wright, Benjamin T., Skating in America
- 1941 births
- American female single skaters
- American figure skating coaches
- Olympic figure skaters of the United States
- Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Living people
- Olympic medalists in figure skating
- World Figure Skating Championships medalists
- Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics