Heiss Jenkins, who won the gold medal for the United States at Squaw Valley, Calif., in February 1960, and Hayes Jenkins, who won the gold medal, also for figure skating at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in 1956, spoke to an attentive crowd at Community Connections at Findley Lake on April 20.

The couple, who own a home in Findley Lake, related their experience both as Olympic competitors and as a couple who were married shortly after Heiss Jenkins won her gold medal.

“It’s hard to put into words how you feel,” Carol said about winning the gold medal. “All the years of hard work, the hard work of your family, the cost of figure skating and the nerves — words just can’t express how you feel. It was the most thrilling moment of my life, except for when I married Hayes.”

Hayes began the talk by relating his story. He competed in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. In 1952, he came in fourth, but doing so put a lot of pressure on him in the 1956 Olympics.

Carol Heiss Jenkins

“The Olympics means so much, but the pressure it puts on you is terrible when you are expected to win,” he said. “Quite honestly, it’s not so much fun.”

Hayes said the first Olympics in which he competed, he just had a good time, but the build-up to the 1956 Olympics made him anxious.

“If you don’t come away with the gold, it doesn’t matter what you come away with, because you’ve won everything else,” he said. “People expect it to be a thrilling moment when you win, but it wasn’t easy.”

Hayes and Carol both said they have known well-respected athletes who cracked under the pressure.

“Everybody has to work through the pressure in their own way,” Carol said. “We have both seen how marvelous athletes have succumbed to the pressure.”

Hayes Alan Jenkins and Carol Heiss Jenkins, both Olympic gold medalists in figure skating, spoke at the Findley Lake Community Center in April. Submitted photos

She noted that today they have sport’s psychologists, but they didn’t in 1960.

Hayes’ brother, David, also competed as a figure skater. In the 1956 Olympics, when Hayes won the gold medal, David took the bronze.

“We had the unique experience of both being on the pedestal,” he said.

Carol said her mother got her into skating at the age of 5.

“There’s nothing about the sport that I don’t like,” she said. “I’m passionate about skating.”

Shortly after winning the Olympic gold medal and marrying gold medalist Hayes Alan Jenkins, Carol Heiss Jenkins had the lead role in the movie Snow White and the Three Stooges.

Carol grew up in Brooklyn and, because of her skating, went to a professional school where everyone had at least one outside activity they were passionate about. Most of the students were studying to be actors or actresses, she said.

“Liza Minelli was one of my classmates,” she said.

Carol said she worked very hard at her sport. She competed in the World Championships at the age of 13, which, Hayes said, was the first time their paths crossed.

On Feb. 7, 1955, Carol was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

“I wasn’t supposed to be on the cover,” she said. “I got a call and they said, ‘We really like your photo and we think we’re going to put it on the cover.'”

Carol Heiss Jenkins was the first woman to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated

Hayes retired from the sport after winning the gold medal; she went on to law school. He graduated from Harvard Law School and went on to work for the Goodyear Tire Company as an international lawyer.

Carol, however, stayed with the sport after retiring from competitive skating. Only six months after they were married, she accepted an offer from 20th Century Fox to play the lead role in Snow White and the Three Stooges.

“I had to learn to act, but the skating was a lot of fun,” she said. “It was fun for me because all of the actors and actresses wanted to come down and see the skating.”

Hayes said he went to Los Angeles to help Carol get settled.

“The director invited us up and called the Three Stooges up,” he said. “Moe Howard came up to me, looked me in the eye and said, ‘Will your wife take a pie?'”

Carol also was featured in many commercials, especially for Procter & Gamble. She shared a video of the commercial for Thrill Dishwashing Liquid in which she was featured.

Hayes and Carol live in Lakewood, Ohio, where they raised three children. However, they have been visiting Findley Lake for 33 years, and for seven years, they searched for a home to purchase there, Carol said.

“We love Findley Lake,” she said. “We love the poster advertising this event that says ‘Findley Lake’s own.’ That makes us feel so much at home.”