Carol Heiss

• Name — Carol Heiss Jenkins • Born — 20 January 1940 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Skating Club — Skating Club of New York • Retired — 1960 • Medal Templates — Olympic Games World Championships North American Championships

Carol Elizabeth Heiss was born January 20, 1940 in New York City, and grew up in Ozone Park, Queens. Her father Edward was a baker and her mother Marie was a homemaker. 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.

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. Heiss was named in the U.S. team to the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. She won the silver medal, while Albright took the gold. However, at the following World Championships, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany, Heiss defeated Albright for the title; it was the first of her five consecutive world titles. 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. In 1953, Heiss became the first female skater to land a double Axel jump. One of her trademarks was performing a series of alternating clockwise and counterclockwise single Axels. She normally rotated her jumps clockwise and spins counterclockwise; it is much more common for skaters to do both in the same direction (usually counterclockwise). Heiss was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

• Illustration — Heiss at the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships Heiss played the female lead in the 1961 film Snow White and the Three Stooges. In the late 1970s, she began coaching in Lakewood, Ohio. Her former students include Timothy Goebel, Tonia Kwiatkowski, and Miki Ando.

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.

• International • Event — 1952 — 1953 — 1954 — 1955 — 1956 — 1957 — 1958 — 1959 — 1960 • Winter Olympics — 2nd — 1st • World Championships — 4th — 2nd — 1st — 1st — 1st — 1st — 1st • North American Champ. — 2nd — 2nd — 1st — 1st • National • U.S. Championships — 1st J — 2nd — 2nd — 2nd — 2nd — 1st — 1st — 1st — 1st • J = Junior