PARIS, Jan 27 — With the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony getting underway on February 6, AFP looks back at some of the golden stars of the ice rink.

Sonja Henie, ice queen to silver screen

After becoming the only woman to win three individual figure skating gold medals, Norwegian Henie went into movies and quickly became one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars.

Henie, the daughter of a track cycling world champion, made her Olympic debut aged 11 in Chamonix in 1924, finishing eighth out of eight.

At 15, she won the first of three straight golds, although her dinner with Adolf Hitler after taking the title in Garmisch in 1936 provoked harsh criticism at home.

She was the first woman skater to compete in white boots, although she switched to beige when her rivals copied her.

She was also the first to compete in a short skirt, saying: “I move less well with all that fabric.”

Her Hollywood films, which invariably involved swirling routines, introduced movie audiences to skating.

Dick Button, the voice of skating

While Henie took skating to the movies, Dick Button became its voice when American television started broadcasting the sport.