Herbert Clarke

Having first competed in the British Amateur Championship in 1911, Herbert Clarke achieved his best finish, third, in 1913-14 and 1922. A member of the Figure Skating Club (later the Royal Figure Skating Club), Clarke’s only other result of note was in finishing third in an international event at St. Moritz in 1914. He was, however, selected for the 1924 Olympics but finished 10th, out of 11. In the late 1920s Clarke became an international judge and officiated at many World Championships, and was the Umpire of Honour for the 1952 Olympics. Having served as a vice president of the International Skating Union (ISU), he was appointed its president in 1945, but was forced to resign due to ill-health in November 1953. One other notable achievement of Clarke’s was in 1935 when, aged 53, he beat the legendary Ulrich Salchow (aged 57) into second place in the “Old Boys Challenge Cup” at St. Moritz.