The 1972 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior-level international competition held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden from 11 to 15 January. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU member nations competed for the title of European Champion in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
Overview The 1970 European bronze medalist, Günter Zöller, arrived in Gothenburg with the East German team but withdrew before the start of the event after going to the West German embassy to defect.
In the men's event, the top three after the compulsory figures held their placements for the medals. Ondrej Nepela completed triple salchow and toe loop jumps and finished first in the CF and the FS too. Sergey Chetverukhin finished second in CF and 3rd in FS, who skated with powerful, and elegance but fell on a triple salchow attempt. Patrick Péra won the bronze medal with no triples at all after he finished 3rd in the CF and 4th in the FS.. Yuriy Ovchinnikov placed second in the free skating but was unable to move up to the podium after placing 7th in the CF."Europeans", Skating magazine, Apr 1972
The ladies' title was again won by defending champion Beatrix Schuba, who built up such an overwhelming lead in the compulsory figures that she won by a huge margin despite placing 5th in the free skating. Afterwards a German newspaper mocked her as the "Champion Without a Double Axel". Rita Trapanese took the silver medal, while Sonja Morgenstern moved up to bronze medal position after winning the free skating with a performance for which she received a 6.0 mark for artistic impression.
In the pairs event, Irina Rodnina / Aleksey Ulanov also successfully defended their title in spite of some small mistakes. Lyudmila Smirnova / Andrey Suraykin won the silver with a performance that was considered more artistic, if less difficult, than that of the winners. The third-place team, Manuela Groß / Uwe Kagelmann, included two thrown double axels in their free skating, which at that time was one of the most difficult elements attempted by pair skaters, and unusual enough to draw comment. As Gross was only 14 years old at this time while her partner Kagelmann was a tall grown man of 21, they were one of the first of what later became known as "one-and-a-half" or "flea-and-gorilla" pair teams.Beverley Smith, Figure Skating: A Celebration,
The dance event was the only discipline in which the title changed hands, as Angelika and Erich Buck unseated the defending champions Lyudmila Pakhomova / Aleksandr Gorshkov. The bronze medal went to the veteran British competitor Janet Sawbridge, now skating with Peter Dalby. It was Sawbridge's sixth medal at the European championships, achieved with three different partners.
Results Men Rank Name Places 1 Ondrej Nepela 2 Sergey Chetverukhin 3 Patrick Péra 4 Haig Oundjian 5 John Curry 6 Vladimir Kovalyov 7 Yuriy Ovchinnikov 8 Didier Gailhaguet 9 Daniel Höner 10 Zdeněk Pazdírek 11 Bernd Wunderlich 12 Josef Schneider 13 Stefano Bargauan 14 László Vajda 15 Harald Kuhn 16 Günther Hilgarth 17 Gordon Andison 18 György Fazekas 19 Pekka Leskinen 20 Peter Augustovič 21 Thomas Öberg 22 Zoran Matas 23 John Ferdinandsen WD Günter Zöller DNS
Ladies Rank Name Places 1 Beatrix Schuba 2 Rita Trapanese 3 Sonja Morgenstern 4 Zsuzsa Almássy 30European Championships 1972. Göteborg, Sweden 5 Christine Errath 6 Charlotte Walter 7 Jean Scott 8 Maria McLean 9 Dianne de Leeuw 10 Yelena Aleksandrova 11 Isabel de Navarre 12 Liana Drahová 13 Gerti Schanderl 14 Anita Johansson 15 Karin Iten 16 Cinzia Frosio 17 Sonja Balun 18 Urszula Zielińska 19 Hana Knapová 20 Marie-Claude Bierre 21 Steffi Knoll 22 Iris Ebenwaldner 23 Marina Sanaya 24 Donna Walter 25 Helena Gazvoda 26 Manuela Bertelè 27 Liv Egelund 28 Kirsten Frikke
Pairs Rank Name Places 1 Irina Rodnina / Aleksey Ulanov 2 Lyudmila Smirnova / Andrey Suraykin 3 Manuela Groß / Uwe Kagelmann 4 Almut Lehmann / Herbert Wiesinger 5 Annette Kansy / Axel Salzmann 6 Irina Chernyayeva / Vasiliy Blagov 7 Marlies Radunsky / Rolf Österreich 8 Grażyna Osmańska / Adam Brodecki 9 Corinna Halke / Eberhard Rausch 10 Linda Connolly / Colin Taylforth 11 Florence Cahn / Jean-Roland Racle 12 Teresa Skrzek / Piotr Szczypa 13 Gabriele Cieplik / Reinhard Ketterer 14 Karin Künzle / Christian Künzle 15 Ursula Nemec / Michael Nemec 16 Pascale Kovelmann / Jean-Pierre Rondel 17 Miroslava Sáblíková / Pavel Komárek 18 Jayne Torvill / Michael Hutchinson
Ice dance Rank Name Places 1 Angelika Buck / Erich Buck 2 Lyudmila Pakhomova / Aleksandr Gorshkov 3 Janet Sawbridge / Peter Dalby 4 Hilary Green / Glynn Watts 5 Tetyana Voytyuk / Vyacheslav Zhyhalyn 6 Yelena Zharkova / Gennadiy Karponosov 7 Diana Skotnická / Martin Skotnický 8 Rosalind Druce / David Barker 9 Teresa Weyna / Piotr Bojańczyk 10 Anne-Claude Wolfers / Roland Mars 11 Krisztina Regőczy / András Sallay 12 Matilde Ciccia / Lamberto Ceserani 13 Sylvia Fuchs / Michael Fuchs 14 Ewa Kołodziej / Tadeusz Góra 15 Brigitte Scheijbal / Walter Leschetizky 16 Silvia Bodmer / Beat Steib 17 Astrid Kopp / Axel Kopp 18 Světlana Marinovová / Miloš Buršík 19 Vivi Poulsen / Kurt Poulsen
References
External links results