Pierre Émile Ernest Brunet (28 June 1902 – 27 July 1991) was a figure skater. Together with his wife Andrée Brunet he won Olympic medals in 1924, 1928 and 1932, as well as four world titles between 1926 and 1932 in pair skating. He also competed in singles, winning the national title in 1924–1931 and finishing seventh-eighth at the 1924 and 1928 Winter Olympics.[1][2]
Biography
Brunet was born in Paris, France. He and his partner Andrée Joly were the French national champions from 1924 until 1935, and won three Olympic medals. They refused to defend their title at the 1936 Winter Olympics, however, in protest over Nazi Germany.[citation needed] The pair won four World Championships, competing in alternate years.
Joly and Brunet were the first French skaters to win gold medals in World, European, and Olympic competitions. They won bronze medals at the 1924 Olympic Winter Games.[3] At the 1925 World Championships, they came in second place behind Herma Szabo and Ludwig Wrede from Austria, in what figure skating historian James M. Hines calls "one of the closest contests in pair skating history".[3] They won every competition they entered after that: the 1932 European Championships; the World Championships in 1926, 1928, 1930, and 1932; and two Olympic titles in 1928 and 1932.[3]
Brunet and Joly were married in 1929. They had a son, Jean-Pierre, who went on to compete for the United States.[1] He died at age 19 in an auto accident.
In 1936 they turned professional and toured Europe and Canada. In 1940 they emigrated to New York.[3] They then became coaches, and trained future Olympic champions Carol Heiss and Scott Hamilton. They coached in New York, Illinois, and Michigan until retiring in 1979.[4][5] Andrée Joly Brunet and Pierre Brunet were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976, as part of the first class of inductees.[6]
