In our years, the world of figure skating has been divided into two warring camps: supporters of the «young» sport and those who support «mature» skating. But almost a century ago, there lived an athlete who was equally successful in both roles. Debuting at the Olympic Games at the age of 11, she went to three more Olympics, from which she took away gold medals. 15 years old, 19 and 22 – there are three different eras in modern sports, but in the 20th century they all bore the name of the Norwegian Sonia Henie.
She was a Hollywood star before the rise of Hollywood itself, a sex symbol in sports before Anna Kournikova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, and a parent project before the institution of frantic figure skating moms took hold in the world. The father of the Norwegian Vilhelm Henie made a fortune in business and probably sought to increase capital at the expense of his daughter, whose investments became the main ones in his busy life.
When little Sonya made a choice in favor of figure skating at the age of 9, she was taken away from school and transferred to home schooling so that the girl would not waste her energy in vain. The head of the family surrounded her with various coaches, teachers and specialists, one of whom was the famous Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina. Sonya flew to her classes from her native Oslo to London. At that time, figure skating did not practice choreography. Henie was the first to combine technical elements and dance moves in the program. She also set the fashion for mini-skirts, richly decorated suits, white skate boots for women and «male» jumps (she became the first girl who succeeded in axel in 1.5 turns), in fact, completely defining the modern look of women's single skating. And at the same time, clearly showing how reckless it can be to openly mix sports and politics.By 1936, Sonia Henie's career was in decline. The record winning streak at the World Championships and the Olympics continued (in total, she managed to win 10 world championships and three Games gold in a row), but the public realized that the great Norwegian would leave very soon. The years had already begun to take their toll, but show business took much more strength from Henie. She has been long awaited in the cinema. On advertising contracts alone, the fatal blonde earned absolutely fabulous money, while in figure skating there was no prize money at all. «What else can I do?» — she will say in a statement about her retirement, listing her entire impressive track record.
But before that, he will almost multiply it by zero with just one careless acquaintance. Shortly before the final career Olympics in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Henie performed in a show in Berlin, whose special guest was Adolf Hitler. Having learned about the presence of the Fuhrer in the stands, Sonya drove up to him and threw her hand up in a Nazi salute, accompanying the gesture with an appropriate phrase and a dazzling smile. They say that after the show, the figure skater and the Fuhrer had a warm conversation, while the Norwegian newspapers were already handing over issues with the murderous headline «Sonya Henie a Nazi?» to the printing house.
She herself refuted these allegations with assurances that she did not even know the meaning of the term «Nazi». Perhaps there was some truth in the words of the legendary athlete. On the other hand, it was rumored that Sonya by that time was already familiar with both Hitler and some representatives of the party elite of the Third Reich. It is unlikely that in the course of private conversations they in no way dedicated the figure skater to the details of the ideology in which they firmly believed. In addition, the first Nazi concentration camp Dachau was already in full operation, and in general the image of the new Germany in the world was steadily negative.
At the same time, at both the 1936 Olympics — the winter in Garmisch and the summer in Berlin — the Nazis tried in every possible way to correct him. With the exception of a few segregation scandals, which was somehow the norm in many countries of the world at that time, the Games were held in a more or less friendly atmosphere. Hitler expected to use the results of these two forums as a powerful tool for internal and international propaganda of the power and hospitality of the Third Reich. Obvious dust in the eyes, which even the main ideologist of the Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, bought into, during a visit to Berlin in 1935, who called Hitler «one of the best creative minds of our era.»
For the sake of such ambitious goals, the Fuhrer even tried to restrain himself in racial matters. When the dark-skinned American athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals before his eyes, including defeating German athletes, Hitler not only did not order to subject him to obstruction (Owens himself recalled that he had never heard such loud applause in his address as in Berlin) , but also sent him a congratulatory letter with an autograph. US President Franklin Roosevelt did nothing of the sort for his great champion.Sonya Henie, of course, was not black. On the contrary, the stately, white-skinned, successful, luxurious blonde fit the visual standards of Nazi ideology like no other. Not surprisingly, after the third victory at the Olympics, Henie and Hitler met again. Then the skater decided to abandon the Nazi salute and loud slogans, but she still gave him a hand. Later, the Fuhrer invited her to dinner at his private residence, where, according to rumors, he gave the skater his portrait with a sweeping signature. Later, during the occupation of Norway, this gift will save Sonya's family hall from looting. The soldiers of the Wehrmacht who broke in, fell under the gaze of the leader who was looking at them from the portrait, did not dare to take a single thing from the house.
A few months after that Olympics, Henie won the world championship for the last time and announced her retirement from the sport. Soon, the former figure skater triumphantly broke into the cinema, and the promotion of her first film «One in a Million» in Germany was personally handled by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. It is not known for certain what caused such a broad gesture of goodwill, but it is obvious that no one will give such gifts to anyone.
After the outbreak of World War II, Henie moved United States, and in 1941 received an American passport. Her Hollywood career skyrocketed. Fees grew even faster. She gave some of them to the needs of the American army in the fight against Nazism, but she never publicly condemned the Hitler regime and did not support the Norwegian resistance. At home, they even began to call her a traitor.However, after a short period of confusion, Henie's reputation was completely cleared. A few years after the end of the war, Sonya returned to Norway with an ice show. She was afraid of being in front of empty stands, but the legendary champion was greeted with a deafening ovation.
So was Sonia Henie a Nazi? Two-time Olympic champion Dick Button considered her an opportunist, acting purely in her own interests, and the figure skater's brother Leif wrote the following about her sister in the biographical book «Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows»: «Henie was obsessed with money and sex, had a bad temper and completely shamelessly used her family and other people for their own purposes.
Probably, just as the father once made his daughter an investment, Henie held on to Hitler, believing that this would give a new round to her career. A brief friendly alliance with the Nazi leader did not cause her serious harm, but almost certainly added benefits. At least due to skyrocketing popularity in Germany, where her films were constantly sold out.