Tenley Albright

Albright later told Hali Helfgott of Sports Illustrated, "What attracted me to skating was that I wanted to fly. I broke umbrellas trying to jump off the garage roof when I was little." Within a year of pond skating, she moved to the Skate Club of Boston for lessons. Albright had not planned to skate seriously, but Maribel Vinson Owen, who had won U.S. championships in the late 1920s and early 1930s, noticed her abilities. Owen later coached Albright.

One initial problem for Albright was her disinterest in compulsory figures, which were certain moves, such as figure eights, created on the ice. Albright found them boring, but later became skilled at them. She preferred the free skate, a program set to music. Skating was not her only talent. She was also very academically talented, attending the Winsor School in Boston, and the Manter Hall School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.