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Ludington elected to World Hall of Fame
CLEVELAND -- Ron Ludington, who coached some of the most successful U.S. pairs and ice dancing pairs in history, Friday was selected for induction into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
Ludington was a four-time U.S. pairs champion along with his sister, Nancy. They also won bronze medals at the 1959 world championships and 1960 Winter Games. In the 1960s, Ludington coached Cynthia and Ronald Kauffman to four U.S. pairs titles. He also guided Judy Schwomeyer and James Sladky to five national ice dancing championships. Ludington also served as coach for Peter and Kitty Carruthers, four-time U.S. pairs champs who also won an Olympic silver medal at the Sarajevo Games in 1984. U.S. hall inducts fourDebi Thomas, the 1986 world champion and 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame on Friday at the U.S. championships. Also inducted at center ice in Cleveland's Gund Arena was Scott Allen, who in 1964 at age 14 became the youngest U.S. men's champion. He went on to win Olympic bronze that year. Inducted posthumously were Gretchen Merrill, a six-time U.S. champion (1943-48) and 1947 world bronze medalist, and Frank Zamboni, the California inventor of the ice-resurfacing machine which bears his name. Thomas, a two-time national champion, now lives in Little Rock, Ark., where she completed her medical internship and has applied for a residency in orthopaedic surgery. Thomas, married with a 2-year-old son, no longer skates. She will celebrate her 33rd birthday in March. Zamboni came up with the idea for his machine after observing men grooming the ice with brooms, scrapers and hoses at the rink where his daughter skated. The Zamboni first went into production in 1949 but was not in widespread use until the late 1960s.
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