View source for Tenley Albright

{{short description|American figure skater}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox figure skater
|name= Tenley Albright
|image= Tenley Albright in Tokyo 1953-4-29.jpg
|image_size=255px
|caption=  Albright in 1953
|fullname= Tenley Emma Albright
|altname= 
|country= {{flag|United States|1912}}
|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1935|7|18}}
|birth_place= [[Newton Centre, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|hometown= [[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|height= 
|skating club= [[Skating Club of Boston]]<ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/tenley-albright-1.html |title=Tenley Albright |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417161747/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/tenley-albright-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
|retired= 1956
|medaltemplates = <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{MedalCountry | the {{flag|United States|1912}}}}
{{MedalSport|Ladies' [[figure skating]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Winter Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1956 Winter Olympics|1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo]] | [[Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Ladies' singles|Ladies' singles]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1952 Winter Olympics|1952 Oslo]] | [[Figure skating at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Ladies' singles|Ladies' singles]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Figure Skating Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1956 World Figure Skating Championships|1956 Garmisch-Partenkirchen]]|Ladies' singles}}
{{MedalGold|[[1955 World Figure Skating Championships|1955 Vienna]]|Ladies' singles}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1954 World Figure Skating Championships|1954 Oslo]]|Ladies' singles}}
{{MedalGold|[[1953 World Figure Skating Championships|1953 Davos]]|Ladies' singles}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[North American Figure Skating Championships|North American Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1955 North American Figure Skating Championships|1955 Regina]]|Ladies' singles}}
{{MedalGold|[[1953 North American Figure Skating Championships|1953 Cleveland]]|Ladies' singles}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1951 North American Figure Skating Championships|1951 Calgary]]|Ladies' singles}}
}}

'''Tenley Emma Albright''' (born July 18, 1935) is an American former [[figure skating|figure skater]] and surgeon. She is the 1956 [[Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics|Olympic champion]], the 1952 [[Figure skating at the 1952 Winter Olympics|Olympic silver medalist]], the 1953 and 1955 [[World Figure Skating Championships|World Champion]], the 1953 and 1955 [[North American Figure Skating Championships|North American champion]], and the 1952–1956 [[United States Figure Skating Championships|U.S. national champion]]. Albright is also a graduate of [[Harvard Medical School]]. In 2015, she was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Marisa |last=Zeppieri-Caruana |url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/03/womens-national-hall-of-fame-seneca-falls-2015/73236506/ |title=10 women honored at Hall of Fame induction |work=Democrat & Chronicle |date=October 3, 2015 |access-date=2015-10-04}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Albright was born in [[Newton, Massachusetts]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Layden |first=Joseph |title=Women in sports : the complete book on the world's greatest female athletes |date=1997 |publisher=General Publishing Group |isbn=1-57544-064-4 |location=Los Angeles, California |pages=15 |oclc=36501288}}</ref> Her father Hollis was a prominent surgeon and her mother Elin was an artist.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Al |date=1956-02-12 |title=Study in frustration |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-patriot-news-study-in-frustration/166308535/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Patriot-News |pages=36}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=About Tenley Albright – My Name is Tenley |url=https://mynameistenley.com/about-tenley-albright/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=mynameistenley.com}}</ref> She has a younger brother, Nile.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaese |first=Harold |date=1955-02-18 |title=Tenley to make good will tour if studies allow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-tenley-to-make-good-wil/166311929/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=18}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Figure skating ===
She began skating at age 8, on a homemade rink in the backyard of her family home.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prim |first=Mary E. |date=1953-03-30 |title=Tenley Albright, figure skating queen at 17 years, wants to become a doctor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/ledger-star-tenley-albright-figure-skat/166311610/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=Ledger-Star |pages=23}}</ref>

In 1946, Albright contracted [[polio]], which was deemed to be pre-paralytic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Betsy |date=1982-01-24 |title='50s figures star Tenley Albright still is a winner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-50s-figures-star/166309207/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Indianapolis Star |pages=92}}</ref> As figure skating historian James R. Hines put it: "Skating provided much needed physical therapy."{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=22}} Since her illness left her muscles “weak and withered”, she started training at the [[Skating Club of Boston]] as part of her rehabilitation. She found her rehabilitation "exhilarating". She would later say: "Did you ever notice how many athletes my age once had polio? I think it's because being paralyzed makes you aware of your muscles and you never want to let them go unused again."<ref>Life Magazine, March 2, 1953 page 78</ref><ref name=":0" />

Albright had two coaches in her career: Willie Frick and [[Maribel Vinson]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Jim |date=1988-02-17 |title=Tenley Albright carved U.S. figure skating trail |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republican-tenley-albright-carved-u/166308222/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Republican |pages=52}}</ref>{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=22}} She won the silver medal at the [[Figure skating at the 1952 Winter Olympics|1952 Olympics]]. She won her first World title in [[1953 World Figure Skating Championships|1953]], silver in [[1954 World Figure Skating Championships|1954]], a second gold medal in [[1955 World Figure Skating Championships|1955]], and her fourth medal, another silver, in [[1956 World Figure Skating Championships|1956]].<ref name="isuwc" /> She was the first American female skater to win a world title.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=xxv}} In 1955, she recorded a triple: winning the US, North American, and World Championships that year. She managed to do this while enrolled as a full-time [[pre-med]] student at [[Radcliffe College]].<ref name=":0" />

Albright won the US Nationals Novice Championships at the age of 13 and the US Junior Championships at the age of 14, and then won five consecutive national titles starting at age 16.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=22}}<ref name=":0" /> In 1956, while training for the Olympics, Albright fell due to a rut in the ice and cut her right ankle joint to the bone with her left skate.<ref name=nyt940225/> The cut was stitched by her father, a surgeon.<ref name=nyt940225/><ref name=si100gfa/> At the [[Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics|1956 Winter Olympics]] in [[Cortina d'Ampezzo]], [[Italy]], she became the first American female skater to win an Olympic gold medal.<ref name=greatath/>{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=xxv}}

Albright retired from competitive skating after 1956 but remained attached to figure skating as a sports functionary.<ref name=si100gfa />

In 1982, Albright became a vice president of the [[U.S. Olympic Committee]].<ref name=sr/>

=== Medicine ===
A graduate of [[The Winsor School]] in Boston, Albright entered [[Radcliffe College]] in 1953 as a pre-med student,<ref name="si100gfa" /> and focused on completing her education after the 1956 Olympics.<ref name="greatath" /> She graduated from [[Harvard Medical School]] in 1961 at the age of 25,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Layden, Joseph, 1959- |title=Women in sports : the complete book on the world's greatest female athletes |date=1997 |publisher=General Pub. Group |isbn=1-57544-064-4 |location=Los Angeles |pages=16 |oclc=36501288}}</ref> went on to become a [[surgery|surgeon]].<ref name="greatath" /><ref name="achieve" /> She practiced for 23 years, continuing as a faculty member and lecturer at [[Harvard Medical School]]. 

She chaired the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. She has served as director for non-profits such as the [[Whitehead Institute|Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research]] and the [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]] and companies such as West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., and State Street Bank and Trust Company.<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/collaborative/team.html Tenley E. Albright, MD]. Web.mit.edu. Retrieved on July 21, 2017.</ref>

In 1976 she served as the chief physician for the US Winter Olympic team. The [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] presented her with a [[Golden Plate Award]] in 1976.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> Her accomplishments earned her an induction into the [[International Women's Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1983.<ref name=":1" />

==Personal life==
[[File:Tenley Albright and Tudor Gardiner 1961.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Tenley Albright and Tudor Gardiner getting married on December 31, 1961]]
Albright married to Tudor Gardiner, a lawyer and son of [[William Tudor Gardiner]], in 1962.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1962-01-01 |title=Tenley Albright, Olympic star, marries |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-bee-tenley-albright-olym/166308788/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Sacramento Bee |pages=47}}</ref> Together they had three daughters.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Shanahan |first1=Mark |last2=Goldstein |first2=Meredith |date=2014-07-22 |title=Tenley Albright throws a bash for other Tenleys - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2014/07/21/tenley-albright-first-name-basis-with-everyone-her-party/8YjJZEL4rWNZQihScsdFVK/story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401202212/https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2014/07/21/tenley-albright-first-name-basis-with-everyone-her-party/8YjJZEL4rWNZQihScsdFVK/story.html |archive-date=2023-04-01 |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=Boston Globe |language=en-US}}</ref> The couple divorced and in 1981, she married former Ritz-Carlton hotel owner Gerald Blakeley.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1981-12-03 |title=Dr Tenley Albright...has married Gerald W. Blakeley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-dr-tenley-albrightha/166310325/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=2}}</ref> He shared her association with Woods Hole and was chair of the [[Morehouse School of Medicine]]. Blakeley died on July 2, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marquard |first=Bryan |title=Gerald W. Blakeley Jr., visionary developer of Boston's 'high-tech highway,' dies at 100 - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/06/metro/gerald-w-blakeley-jr-visionary-developer-bostons-high-tech-highway-dies-100/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707015320/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/06/metro/gerald-w-blakeley-jr-visionary-developer-bostons-high-tech-highway-dies-100/ |archive-date=2021-07-07 |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Albright serves on the Executive Advisory Board of the [[World.minds|World.Minds]] Foundation, contributing her expertise in health policy, science, and leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Team – WORLD.MINDS |url=https://www.worldminds.org/team/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |language=en}}</ref>

== Results ==

{|  class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" style="text-align:center;"| '''Results'''
|-
! colspan="7" style="background:#ffdead; text-align:center;"| '''International'''  
|-
! Event
! 1951
! 1952
! 1953
! 1954
! 1955
! 1956
|-
| align=left | [[Winter Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] || || style="background:silver;"| 2nd || || || || style="background:gold;"| 1st 
|-
| align=left | [[World Figure Skating Championships|World Championships]] || 6th || WD || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:silver;"| 2nd || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:silver;"| 2nd 
|-
| align=left | [[North American Figure Skating Championships|North American Championships]] || style="background:#c96;"| 3rd || || style="background:gold;"| 1st || || style="background:gold;"| 1st || 
|-
! colspan="7" style="background:#ffdead; text-align:center;"| '''National''' 
|-
| align=left | [[U.S. Figure Skating Championships|U.S. Championships]] || style="background:silver;"| 2nd || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:gold;"| 1st 
|-
| align=left | [[Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Championships|Eastern Sectionals]] || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:gold;"| 1st || || || ||
|-
| colspan="7" style="text-align:center;"| <small> WD = Withdrew </small> 
|}

== References ==

{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=isuwc>{{cite web |url=http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-148236-165452-56215-0-file,00.pdf |title=World Figure Skating Championships Results: Ladies Medalists |publisher=[[International Skating Union]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603230816/http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0%2C11040%2C4844-148236-165452-56215-0-file%2C00.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=nyt940225>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/25/sports/winter-olympics-baiul-is-injured-in-skating-collision.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm |title=Baiul Is Injured In Skating Collision |first=Jere |last=Longman |work=The New York Times |date=February 25, 1994}}</ref>

<ref name=greatath>{{cite book |title=Great Athletes |first1=Jean C. |last1=Fulton |editor1-first=Dawn P |editor1-last=Dawson |edition=Revised |volume=1 |year=2002 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=Salem Press |isbn=1-58765-008-8 |pages=29–31 |url=https://archive.org/details/greatathletes0000unse |url-access=registration}}</ref>

<ref name=achieve>{{cite web |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/tenley-albright-m-d/#interview |title=Biography and Video Interview of Tenley Albright |publisher=Academy of Achievement}}</ref>

<ref name=si100gfa>{{cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/47 |title=Sports Illustrated for Women: 100 Greatest Female Athletes |first=Richard |last=Deitsch |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |year=2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628211545/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/47/ |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

}}

== Works cited ==

* {{Cite book |last=Hines |first=James R. |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000hine |title=Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8108-6859-5 |location=Lanham, Maryland |access-date=19 July 2024}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Tenley Albright}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122231727/http://www.skatecanada.ca/en/events_results/results/archives/SkateCanadaResultsBook-%20Volume1-1896-1973.pdf |date=mdy |title=Skate Canada Results Book – Volume 1 – 1896 – 1973}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209010047/http://www.xcelenergycenter.com/uploads/assets/saintpaul2008/news/Past%20U.S.%20Champions.pdf |date=mdy |title=Past U.S. Champions – Senior}}
* [https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/tenley-albright/ Tenley Albright] at the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]]
* {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=tenley-albright|old_id=Tenley-Albright|archive=20230720073209}}
* {{Olympics.com profile}}
* {{Olympedia}}

{{NavigationOlympicChampionsFigureSkatingLadies}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsFigureSkatingLadies}}
{{NavigationNorthAmericanChampionsFigureSkatingLadies}}
{{NavigationUSChampionsFigureSkatingLadies}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albright, Tenley Emma}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American female single skaters]]
[[Category:American surgeons]]
[[Category:Figure skaters at the 1952 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Figure skaters at the 1956 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Harvard Medical School alumni]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in figure skating]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in figure skating]]
[[Category:Radcliffe College alumni]]
[[Category:Figure skaters from Newton, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Winsor School alumni]]
[[Category:World Figure Skating Championships medalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportswomen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]