The 1949 championships took place from 16 to 18 February 1949 in Paris, France. At the men's event, the favorite, Dick Button won. At the women's event, however, the favorite, Eva Pawlik of Austria, who had been the Olympic runner-up behind Barbara Ann Scott one year before and who had just won the European title in 1949, dropped out because of a broken boot heel just before the free program.[1][2][3][4] which provided Alena Vrzáňová of Czechoslovakia with the opportunity to win the gold medal. She became the first woman to perform a double lutz.[5]
↑Figure skating: "Favored to win, Eva Pawlik was forced to withdraw", in: Life Magazine, 14.3.1949
↑Susan D. Russell, "Eva Pawlik and Rudi Seeliger", In: International Figure Skating Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008
↑Matthias Hampe, The genesis of figure skating. Doctoral thesis at the Potsdam University 2010, page 218
↑Kelli Lawrence, Skating On Air. McFarland & Company. Jefferson (North Carolina) and London 2011. Chapter "Eva Pawlik - more than an overseas footnote", page 22. ISBN978-0-7864-4608-7
