Madge Syers changed the course of figure skating history when she took on the established order.
At just 20 years old, Syers entered the 1902 World Figure Skating Championships, with women not officially banned from competing.
Instead, there was purely the assumption that women would not compete, but Syers proved them wrong, going on to win silver.
Furthermore, many believed she should have taken gold, with skater and judge T.D Richardson later writing, "Rumour, nay more than rumour - a good deal of expert opinion - thought she should have won."
While the gold medallist, Ulrich Salchow of Sweden, is reported to have presented his medal to Syers as a sign of his respect for his competitor.
The World Championships took place in London, the city of Syers’ birth and also where she learnt to skate.
Syers was born Florence Madeline Cave in 1881 and was one of fifteen children of Edward Jarvis Cave.
A popular pastime, Syers took up ice skating at the Prince’s Skating Rink in Knightsbridge, a venue that was to become part of Olympic history in later years.
While for most, ice skating was about enjoyment, for Syers, it was serious, and her passion was recognised by the man who would become her coach and husband, Edgar Syers.
He was instrumental in seeing her adopt the international style of figure skating, which was much more free-flowing than the British style.
Together, in pairs competitions, they were very successful, but it was Syers on her own who had the biggest impact on the figure skating world, including beating her husband in the British nationals.
Despite support from her competitors and other people in the figure skating world, Syers’ appearance in the men’s competition at the 1902 World Championships was her last in that category.
Women were almost immediately banned from competing at the championships until, in 1905, a women’s competition was introduced.
One of the reasons for the ban was that women’s long skirts restricted the judge’s view of their feet.
This was despite Syers competing in a skirt that ended at her mid-calf, as her penchant for pushing boundaries also included fashion.
With women finally able to compete again, Syers convincingly won the 1906 and 1907 women’s world championships, although these were only retrospectively recognised as official World Championships in 1920.
Her crowning moment came at the place where her figure skating love began, the Prince’s Skating Rink, as it hosted figure skating at the 1908 London Olympic Games.
The event’s inclusion marked the first time a winter sport had been included in the Olympics and is the only time an Olympic event on ice has been held in Britain.
With the figure skating held in October, three months after the athletics events, Syers’ Olympic debut came almost a year after she had retired from international competition.
She comfortably won ladies’ singles gold, adding mixed pairs bronze with her husband later in the day, to make further history as the first woman to win two medals at the same Olympic Games.
Her medals are only part of her impact, with the official report from the figure skating suggesting that women would be allowed to compete in more Olympic events in the future.
Indeed, at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, 48 women competed, with women’s diving and swimming included for the first time.
For Syers, her international competitions ended with her gold medal in London, and she passed away due to heart issues aged just 35.
In 1981, she was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and her legacy lives on every time women take to the ice or, indeed, challenge the usual world order.
Sportsbeat 2025