Gerber, Maxi

Maxi Gerber ^[1] , ( German: Maxi Herber , October 8, 1920 , Munich - October 20, 2006 , Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany ) is a German figure skater who became Olympic champion in pair skating in 1936 with Ernst Bayer . The duet was the first to perform a parallel jump in competitions. Gerber is the youngest Olympic champion in figure skating in the history of the Winter Olympics , who won them at the age of 15 years 4 months and 5 days. According to the current rules, this age record is already impossible to break, since skaters are not allowed to participate in the Winter Olympic Games until the age of 15 years 5 months.

Maxi Gerber
Maxi Gerber in 1933
Personal Information
Presents	Germany
Date of Birth	October 8, 1920 ( 1920-10-08 )
Place of Birth	Munich
Date of death	October 20, 2006 ( 2006-10-20 ) (86 years old)
Place of death	Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany
Sports achivments
The best results on the ISU system (at international amateur competitions)
Amount	Not competed in New judicial system
Medals Figure skating Gold Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 Couples

Maxi Gerber and Ernst Bayer
(1936 postcard)

Gerber and Bayer were also four-time world champions (in a row from 1936 to 1939), five-time European champions (in a row from 1935 to 1939) and five-time German champions (from 1934 to 1936, 1938 and 1939).

In addition, Maxi Gerber performed in singles . She became the champion of Germany among women three times (from 1933 to 1935), and she was seventh at the 1934 World Cup.

The couple starred in the movie Olympia, directed by Leni Riefenstahl .

After the end of his amateur career in 1940, Gerber and Bayer got married, they had three children. After World War II, they performed in various shows, and later, in 1951, founded their own company, the Maxi and Ernst Bayer Ice Ballet ( Eisballett Maxi und Ernst Baier ). Subsequently, they sold their business to the owners of the Holiday on Ice tour.

In 1964 , they divorced. As a result of the divorce, Maxi Gerber had to live on social benefits. With the assistance of the German organization for assistance to athletes "Deutsche Sporthilfe" she moved to Oberau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria . A few years later, Gerber and Bayer remarried, but soon divorced.

Gerber suffered from Parkinson's disease . In 2000 , she moved to a nursing home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where she was fond of drawing with watercolors , and even exhibitions of her works were held. Maxi Gerber died in 2006 at the age of 86.