Jeanette Altwegg was born in Mumbai, India on 8th
September 1930 the daughter of Swiss born Hermann Altwegg. Her family were living at 4A Parkfield Road
L17 in 1938 but by 1939 had moved to Crosby. Her father was described in the
electoral register of 1939 as ‘manager and salesman East Indian cotton’.
A natural athlete she reached the Wimbledon junior finals in
1947 but then gave up tennis to concentrate on ice skating. This was well
judged as her bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics was followed by gold at the
1951 European and World Championships.
The pinnacle of her career came in 1952 when she became the first British woman
to win a gold medal at the winter Olympics. A knee injury precluded any
question of her pursuing a professional career. In 1953 she was awarded the
CBE.
After
retiring from skating, Altwegg worked at the Pestalozzi Children's Village in Switzerland. She married Marc Wirz, the
brother of Swiss skater Susi Wirz. They had four children before divorcing in 1973.
Their daughter Christina Wirz was a member of Switzerland's 1983 World champion
curling team. Jeanette Altwegg died in Switzerland in June 2021 aged 90.
