Lucinda Ruh

{{short description|Swiss figure skater}}

{{Infobox figure skater

|name= Lucinda Ruh

|image=

|caption=

|country= {{SUI}}

|birth_name= Lucinda Martha Ruh

|birth_date= {{Birth date and age|df=y|1979|7|13}}

|birth_place= Zürich, Switzerland

|residence=

|height= 5 ft 9 in

|formercoach= Liu Hongyun
Oliver Höner
Nobuo Sato
Christy Ness

|choreographer=

|formerchoreographer= Robin Cousins
Alexander Zhulin
Toller Cranston
Lea Ann Miller
Sarah Kawahara
Christopher Dean

|skating club= Club des Patineurs de Geneve

|formertraininglocations= Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; San Francisco, California, USA; Harbin, China; Switzerland

|beganskating= 1984

|retired= 2000

}}

Lucinda Martha Ruh (born 13 July 1979) is a Swiss former competitive figure skater. She is the 1996 Swiss national champion and the 1993 junior level national champion.

She is known for her outstanding spinning ability and her balletic skating. Nicknamed "the Queen of Spin", she is the longest and fastest spinner in the world ever. In April 2003, Ruh set a Guinness world record for the most continuous upright spins on ice (105). She toured with Stars on Ice, Champions on Ice, and numerous other worldwide tours. She also authored her 2011 memoir Frozen Teardrop.

Personal life

Lucinda Martha Ruh was born on 13 July 1979 in Zürich, Switzerland. Her family moved to Paris, France, not long after her birth and then to Tokyo, Japan, when she was four years old. She was initially more focused on ballet than skating and at age seven received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet of London. She also practiced the piano and cello.

Ruh lives in New York City. In May 2012, she gave birth to twin girls, Angelica and Angelina.

Career

Ruh began skating in 1984, soon after moving to Japan. She decided to focus on skating as her main activity when she was about eight.

In 1986, Ruh began working with coach Nobuo Sato. She won the bronze medal at the Japan Junior Championships in 1994. Although she initially enjoyed jumps, her interest in them waned as she grew to {{convert|5|ft|9|in|cm|abbr=on}}, "Since the center of gravity was higher, combined with the rigid training while growing, I never really had a chance to get my timing and balance back. As a result, injuries from bad falls plagued me even more and I started not liking jumps."

In 1996, she moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to work with Toller Cranston. In 1997, she worked with Christy Ness in San Francisco, California but developed two Achilles tendinitis, a ruptured shoulder and Sciatica. In 1998, she moved to Harbin, China to train with Chen Lu's former coach, Hongyun Liu, but although her jumping improved, the Chinese federation objected to a non-national being trained by him. In December, she moved to Switzerland, where she met coach Oliver Höner; it was the first time she had resided in her birth country.

In the summer of 1999, she went to the U.S. and was briefly coached by Galina Zmievskaya but tore knee ligaments and returned to Switzerland for treatment. Her last ISU event was the 1999 Cup of Russia. She sustained an injury after falling on a jump during practice the day before the competition but took three Cortisone injections a day and finished 6th at the event. She later learned she had fractured her spine, resulting in two dislocated discs. Her spinning may also have resulted in subtle concussions. A study is underway to determine whether intensive training of spins may cause concussions.

Ruh represented Club des Patineurs de Geneve. She has cited the pair Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov as the skaters she admired the most while growing up.

She is the 2000 and 2001 world professional bronze medalist.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Ruh has created over twenty different new spin positions now required at competitions.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Following her retirement, Ruh began working as a coach and a spinning coach specialist. On 3 April 2003, she set a world record for the most continuous upright spins on ice (105 revolutions) at the Rockefeller Plaza outdoor skating rink in New York City, beating the previous record of 60 revolutions{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6a-fNfIK9s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/g6a-fNfIK9s| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Lucinda Ruh Guinness World Record 3 April 2003 Part 2|website=Youtube|date=12 October 2009 |access-date=20 October 2021}}{{cbignore}} by British figure skater Neil Wilson.

She toured around the world from 2000 to 2006 with Stars on Ice USA and Canada, Champions on Ice, Art on Ice to name a few. She skated for many charities and 9/11 memorial at Madison Square Garden and participated in the 2010 and 2011 iterations of "One Step Closer", a figure skating exhibition to benefit the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children. She is the author of Frozen Teardrop, a memoir published by SelectBooks in November 2011.

Programs

class=wikitable style=text-align:center

! Season

! Short program

! Free skating

! Exhibition

1999–2000

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1998–99

|

| rowspan=2 |

|

1997–98

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1996–97

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1995–96

| rowspan=2 |

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1994–95

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Competitive highlights

GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=9 align=center | International
Event

! {{tooltip|92–93|1992–93}}

! 93–94

! 94–95

! 95–96

! 96–97

! 97–98

! 98–99

! {{tooltip|99–00|1999–2000}}

align=left | Worlds18th19th15th23rd13th
align=left | Europeans23rd
align=left | {{small|GP}} Cup of Russia6th
align=left | {{small|GP}} Skate Canada6thbgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd
align=left | Finlandia Trophy8th
align=left | Nebelhorn Trophy7th
align=left | Schäfer Memorial11th
align=left | Skate Israel10th
style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=9 align=center | International: Junior
align=left | Junior Worlds6th9th7th
align=left | Blue Swords12th J
align=left | Triglav Trophybgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd J
style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=9 align=center | National
align=left | Swiss Champ.bgcolor=gold | 1st J4thbgcolor=cc9966 | 3rdbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd
colspan=9 align=center | J: Junior level; WD: Withdrew

References

{{Reflist|2|refs=

{{cite web |url= http://figureskating.sportresult.com/Bios/SUI/2016/0/51700/MEN/TO/329 |title= Lucinda RUH |publisher= International Skating Union |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20160704060227/http://figureskating.sportresult.com/Bios/SUI/2016/0/51700/MEN/TO/329 |archivedate= 4 July 2016 |url-status= dead }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.goldenskate.com/2004/04/strong-spirit-defeats-fractured-spine/ |title= Lucinda Ruh: Strong Spirit Defeats Fractured Spine |first= Paula |last= Slater |work= GoldenSkate |date= 29 April 2004 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.goldenskate.com/2002/07/lucinda-ruh-online-interview/ |title= Lucinda Ruh: Online Interview |work= Golden Skate |date= 30 July 2002 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/news/article/Skating-Royalty-Queen-of-Spin-Lucinda-Ruh-1026804.php |title= Skating Royalty: 'Queen of Spin' Lucinda Ruh |first= Barbara |last= Perry Bind |work= greenwichcitizen.com |date= 25 February 2011 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110226105053/http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/news/article/Skating-Royalty-Queen-of-Spin-Lucinda-Ruh-1026804.php |archivedate= 26 February 2011 }}

{{cite news |url= http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Dr-Investigates-Figure-Skating-Dangers-138801459.html |title= Dr. Investigates Figure Skating Dangers |first= Sabina |last= Kutiakose |work= NBC Connecticut |date= 7 February 2012 }}

{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/MWskatecast/status/206101555915657216/photo/1 |title=Congrats to Lucinda Ruh on the birth of her twin girls! |publisher=Twitter |first=Allison |last=Manley |date=25 May 2012}}

{{cite news |url= http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120607&content_id=32925086&vkey=ice_news |title= The Inside Edge: Young Artists Showcase |first1= Sarah S. |last1= Brannen |first2= Drew |last2= Meekins |work= Icenetwork |date= 8 June 2012 }}

{{cite news |url= http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100412&content_id=9243626&vkey=ice_pressrelease |title= "One Step Closer" a big success for David |work= Icenetwork.com |date= 12 April 2010 }}

{{cite web |url= http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110307&content_id=16849766&vkey=ice_pressrelease |title= "One Step Closer" to be held April 9 |work= Icenetwork.com |date= 7 March 2011 }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.manleywoman.com/book-review-lucinda-ruhs-frozen-teardrop/ |title=Book Review: Lucinda Ruh's "Frozen Teardrop" |first=Allison |last=Manley |work=The Manleywoman SkateCast |date= 1 December 2011 }}

}}