An Olympic Figure Skater Who Also Made History for The Times

Thanks for this story. I scored the 2011 Film "Rise" about the 1961 plane crash that she perished in. Learning about her and her daughters was amazing and that Evan won the Gold in Vancouver with Mr Carroll as his coach (also part of the film) was really inspiring.

One thing that strikes me in these photos of Vinson and her daughters are their normal-sized, healthy looking bodies, their natural smiles, their cheer. Olympic college and professional sports (who can tell the difference anymore?) have become the grim preserve of money, sexual abuse, stolen childhoods, broken bodies and tears. What a pity.

Great story. Thank you for it.

In 1960, I was a stay-at-home wife and mom with a baby. I watched all of the ice skating competitions in Winter Olympics that year. Carol Heiss won the women's gold medal. But I well remember seeing Lauren Owen compete; I think she came in fifth. I remember hearing about her mother who was also her coach. Lauren was supposed to be the next great American female figure skater. I think she was the US Champion going to that world championship competition in Brussels. Not sure how she did, but she either won or was ranked very high in the standings. Then the plane crash happened. It was big news--a tragedy. It was hard to believe that Lauren Owen was gone. But the US figure skating contingent was almost all destroyed. Maribel Vinson was a coach, and a major figure in developing skaters who could compete. at the world level The US did not have much of a figure skating team for world championships and other competitions throughout the 1960s. Coaches that were left literally had to start from scratch training youngsters. There was not much of a US ice skating team to send to the 1964 Winter Olympics. Finally, in 1968, Peggy Fleming emerged as a US figure skating star. She won the gold medal that year, the only Olympic gold medal awarded to an American skater that decade.

Love the story, truly a great person. The only correction I would make to the story is that there were no 707s in 1961. It was a propeller plane that crashed.

This is such a great story. I know a lot about Maribel but didn't know this! Such a cool story.

Wonderful article.It brings back memories of her irrepresible personality and boundless energy. She was Tenley Albright's and my coach at the World Figure Skating Championships in Vienna in 1955. She was with us all day at the rink coaching, in the bar with the sports writers half the night, submitting a daily sports artlical for a Boston newspaper and was always sharp, bright and enthusiastic the next day. When I asked her how she managed she said "I sleep fast" She was a delight to have as a coach and even more to have as a friend

I grew up in Winchester, Mass., and my four siblings and I all graduated from Vinson-Owen Elementary School. So I knew the inspiring (and sad) story of Maribel Vinson-Owen, and her daughters, as champion ice skaters. But I never knew that Maribel was also the Times' first female sportswriter, and a Radcliffe grad, and a single mom. Wow. Her skill, smarts, and drive apparently knew no bounds. Thank you for filling out the portrait, and for keeping her memory alive.

Wonderful story by Victor Mather - reminding us that late, great Olympian Maribel Vinson Owen was also a Times sports writer...I know of another Olympian who was a Times sports writer for a while. Myself, actually. And still available if needed. Elliott Denman USA '56.

My older daughter is out competing in the National Synchronized Skating Championships in Portland Oregon today. She also has two sons and a Ph.D. in biochemistry/molecular biology. You go girl!!!

The truth always makes the most incredible story, and the Times is full of true incredible stories. A prominent but little known lawyer once said, "If you want a story kept quiet, bury it in the public record". The public record in the Times is full of gems. Pan Gross

Thank you for this piece. As I follow closely the Olympic skating in PyeongChang, I'm so glad to be made aware of this woman and the remarkable contributions she made to her two disciplines. I hope some of today's skaters (and journalists) will be inspired by her.

What a wonderful story! Thank you, Mr. Mather.

If only all sportswriters took figure skating as seriously as this pro took all sports, imagine the widespread popularity or even appreciation of skating we might have. A true Olympian

How horrible an ending... In the 50's and 60's when flying was viewed as dangerous, family members would often split up when travelling to a destination just in case.. As women are too often portrayed as not playing any roles in society until NOW -- who produced babies and all kinds of other things- I wonder... I am always happy for historical examples of women. One might also reflect that none other than Pope Gregory VII contemplated a Crusade with Countess Matilda of Tuscany at his side and leaving her mother in charge of Matllda's territories!! (11th C). It didn't happen but less than 100 years later, Eleanor of Aquitaine then married to Louis VII did go on the Second Crusade before having her marriage anulled and marrying Henry II, later king of England. She had eight children; three became kings.

A wonderful piece, thank you

Wow! Amazing story about an exceptional woman. Also amazing to imagine how Ms. Vinson competed and wrote for the Times simultaneously...these days, elite athletes seem to have little time for anything outside their sport

Just another marvelous example of the Times' excellence in journalism and not just sharing great stories but doing so with elegant English. As one who has followed ice skating since a long weekend stay at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. My wife and I were taking a stroll around the lake on a crisp October morning and saw folks coming and going at the World Ice Arena on the far side of the lake. We sauntered in and saw numerous skaters on the ice, some far better than others. We walked down a few rows--some folk were simply watching quietly--and took seats. There was one young lady whose excellence drew our rapt attention and she was so elegant on top of her strong athleticism. She was in lovely attire but practicing, not performing. After a half hour or so, we rose to leave and passed a lady seated on the aisle. We paused to ask her if she knew who this talented skater was. She replied with a smile, "Yes, that's Peggy Fleming and she's going to her first Olympics next year. Of course we were glued to our TV for those Olympics and thrilled to see her claim the Gold Medal. She went on to have a fantastic career on the ice and on TV assisting analysts like Dick Button with he first=hand commentary. In time, a new facility was built in C. Spgs for Olympic training. But that morning stroll has stayed with me all these years as a truly special memory.

Fantastic story!

I really enjoyed this and love the Times Insider column on page 2. It's great when newspapers think of something different like this for readers to enjoy. This story is poignant at the end, too.

What a wonderful story! And to think that she coached Frank Carroll. I love that. (I can only imagine what her work life at the Times was like as a woman.)

This story was an uplift for me. So many women in the past have excelled, but have been forgotten through time. Today’s young girls need to read about our fore-mothers to know what’s possible for them. As a former journalist, sports enthusiast and yes, women’s libber, this article made my day. More please and thanks.

I'm so grateful that Victor Mather has put the spotlight of the NYT on Maribel Vinson. Twenty-five years ago I wrote about my one (and only) visit to the Figure Skating Hall of Fame museum attached to the Broadmoor rink in Colorado Springs. This past Friday night -- this is 25 years later -- while watching the men's finals, I was so inspired by Nathan Chen's free skate that on the spot I decided to dig up my figure skating song and make a video for it -- and the focus of the video are Maribel Owen and Dudley Richards, the US champion pairs' skaters, and yes, Maribel Vinson was their coach, and also Maribel Owen's mother. In 1993 as I was walking around the museum and writing notes for the song, I came upon a stirring photo of Maribel and Dudley, and decided they would be the focus of the song. It was AFTER deciding that did I come upon the information about the plane crash. I tried to find another photo to write about, but kept coming back to them. I didn't want the song to be so sad, so I didn't spell out what happened (though in the video it's clear). I don't know what possessed me to create this video 25 years later, and then to read a story about Maribel Vinson the same week -- I hope you can include this for your readers and for Mr. Mather. The ending will bring back fond memories of how figure skating used to be in Maribel's day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oIIEIc66gc

What a wonderful story! Thank you.

A wonderful and a timely story. God bless this woman and her children along with others who perished in that crash. While not wanting to be flippant, I noticed that she made her boat with just 10 minutes to spare and that too in N.Y.. What a wonderful luxury where you did not have to show up half a day earlier and go through all these security stuff. I am pushing 70. I remember wonderful days of flying in America where you could literally run up to the gate as they are closing airplane door and still make it on board. This is a true story. One time at DFW, a colleague and I running late, arrived at gate to find plane still there but doors closed. We ran down the ramp, knocked on door and they let us in.

This is a wonderful story and thank you NYT for bringing it to your readers. As a former chair of the fund established to memorialize the victims of the 1961 plane crash I thought I knew everything about Maribel, but I learned more from this story. Frank Carroll's recollections are lovely and poignant. I often wonder how different the course of skating's history would be if Maribel and little Maribel had survived. But perhaps Maribel's legacy to sports writing and women in sports was an equal loss.

Great article. I experienced every minute of it as the skating partner of her daughter, Maribel Y. Owen. Very brilliant and very, very tough lady.

I’ve heard Michelle Kwan talk about Maribel Vinson, but I never knew that she wrote for the NYT. Thanks for the great story!

Such a tribute to Maribel Vinson and so well written, thank you Victor Mather. I too had never heard this story. Loved the mention of her prose, "...and it must have been small comfort to see a telephone pole a block away struck by a bolt and burning merrily away." This is NYT writing at its best, pulling me in, and so well timed for the current Olympics. Enjoyed to read how she sailed for Germany and forgot her uniform. What a vibrant lady, and a student of Thomas Aquinas. Enough said. I appreciate the link to her last article in 1937. It matches the clean and fun sports writing quoted in the article. And, also sad to hear of this wonderful student-athlete-writer mother and her daughters passing as they did.

thank you for spotlighting talented trailblazer. that plane crash an unspeakeable tragedy to be remembered.

What a great story about a multitalented individual. Sad that her life, and those of her daughters, was tragically cut short. Kudos to Mather for his research and writing.

I well remember that plane crash. It was so sad.

So sad that mother and daughters perished in that crash. Stories like this one are why I subscribe to the Times. Thank you.

For anyone who wants to learn more about Maribel Vinson and the 1961 U.S. national team, I highly recommend the 2011 documentary film “RISE.” The legacy these athletes left in figure skating is both poignant and inspiring.

What a heartbreaking loss for the U.S. skating team. Maribel Vinson sounds like a strong, tenacious lady, a pioneer. This is a fascinating story, albeit sad.

I always felt that my watching hundreds of hours of figure skating helped me in writing. This was a fascinating article and as I kept reading I thought, "I hope they weren't killed in that plane crash" and sure enough, they were. Thanks so much for such a wonderful article.

Grateful for this story. Though I knew very little about her life as a skater and trainer, I had no idea that Ms. Vinson-Owen was a sportswriter - clearly a woman ahead of her time. I would love to know more about her and her daughters. There are some wonderful films of them skating in the 1961 World Championships that can be seen on YouTube.

Character, energy, a wide range of abilities, intelligence....not a bad inventory of attributes for anyone.

What a fascinating and strong woman! It's a story with a sad ending, but kudos to the Times for keeping her memory alive.

Thank you for bringing this story and this fascinating woman to light. I know there are other similar stories out there, I'd love to read more of them.

Marvelous story! Maribel Vinson was truly one of the pioneers. I had never heard her name before. I am so sad that she & her daughters died in a plane crash. What a devastating loss. But she left an astonishing legacy. So glad to learn about her!

For Ms. Vinson and her numerous accomplishments I applaud the NYT for tooting it's own horn on this one. Nice read.

Thank you for this great story about a truly great American, Maribel Vinson. I am fortunate to have two awesome aunts who are golf icons. One lived a month shy of 100 and went for her last golf outing at 98. The other has been rewarded with an annual event in her name. She can't play anymore, but she still shows up and gets driven around until she's dizzy, but she's only 94. There are so many strong, wonderful women in our history who never got credit or written up for their contributions. This is inspiring.

This beautiful and poignant story has a special relevance from readers from Winchester, MA, where the Vinson Owen family lived, and where Maribel Vinson was from. The legacy of Vinson and her daughters also lives on in the name of one of Winchester's elementary schools, which is named the "Vinson-Owen Elementary School."