Paul Falk (German pronunciation:[paʊ̯lˈfalk]ⓘ; 21 December 1921 – 20 May 2017) was a German pair skater. Born in Dortmund, Germany, he skated with Ria Baran and became two-time World champion and 1952 Olympic champion. Baran and Falk married during their active international figure skating.[1]
They were the first couple who performed side by side double jumps and they also invented the Lasso-Lift. Baran and Falk were never defeated in amateur competition.[citation needed] They were also World pair champions in roller skating.[2]
In 1951 Falk was voted the male athlete of the year in Germany. After winning the Olympics in 1952 they turned professional and worked for Holiday on Ice. Falk's profession outside athletics was as a precision mechanic; he was also "a prominent coach in Germany".[2] In 1993 they were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.[2] He died 8+1⁄2 months before Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot won the gold medal for pairs skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[1]
