The 1971 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior-level international competition held at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Switzerland on February 2–7. 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.
The pair skating event demonstrated the dominance of the Soviet Union in this discipline. Irina Rodnina and Aleksey Ulanov took the title in spite of a fall by Ulanov on a double Axel, a side-by-side jump not being attempted by any other team.
The ice dance competition was a contrast between the British and Russian styles of dance. British-trained Angelika and Erich Buck narrowly lost a 5–4 decision to Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov, who as usual were criticized for their unequal balance of skills.
Ondrej Nepela ran away with the men's title following the withdrawal of his two top challengers, Patrick Péra and Günter Zöller, due to injuries. Nepela's victory was more the result of his strong showing in the compulsory figures than for his rather undistinguished free skating. The free skating portion of the competition was won by Haig Oundjian, who landed triple toe loop and triple salchow jumps and moved up from 6th after the figures to take the bronze medal. In the CF finished second Sergey Chetverukhin, behind Nepela and in the FS finished second Nepela behind Oundjian.
The ladies event was likewise decided by the compulsory figures as Beatrix Schuba dominated that part of the competition. The free skating was won by Sonja Morgenstern, who landed a triple salchow jump in her program—at that time it was very rare for women to attempt triple jumps. Morgenstern had placed a distant 8th in the figures. Schuba was heavily criticized for the poor quality of her free skating, which included a fall on a relatively simple double loop as well as a definite underrotation on her double Axel.
Results Men Rank Name Places 1 Ondrej Nepela 2 Sergey Chetverukhin 3 Haig Oundjian 4 Jan Hoffmann 5 Yuriy Ovchinnikov 6 Sergey Volkov 7 John Curry 8 Günter Anderl 9 Jacques Mrozek 10 Didier Gailhaguet 11 Daniel Höner 12 Jozef Žídek 13 Klaus Grimmelt 14 Josef Schneider 15 László Vajda 16 Stefano Bargauan 17 Thomas Callerud 18 György Fazekas 19 Pekka Leskinen 20 Bernard Bauer 21 Zoran Matas 22 Zdeněk Pazdírek
Ladies Rank Name Places 1 Beatrix Schuba 2 Zsuzsa Almássy 22European Championships 1971. Zürich, Switzerland 3 Rita Trapanese 4 Sonja Morgenstern 5 Charlotte Walter 6 Patricia Dodd 7 Christine Errath 8 Yelena Aleksandrova 9 Eileen Zillmer 10 Ľudmila Bezáková 11 Jean Scott 12 Marina Titova 13 Judith Beyer 14 Liana Drahová 15 Anita Johansson 16 Cinzia Frosio 17 Beatrice Huștiu 18 Sonja Balun 19 Dianne de Leeuw 20 Marie-Claude Bierre 21 Kirsten Frikke 22 Helena Gazvoda
Pairs Rank Name Places 1 Irina Rodnina / Aleksey Ulanov 2 Lyudmila Smirnova / Andrey Suraykin 3 Galina Karelina / Georgiy Proskurin 4 Manuela Groß / Uwe Kagelmann 5 Almut Lehmann / Herbert Wiesinger 6 Marlies Radunsky / Rolf Österreich 7 Brunhilde Baßler / Eberhard Rausch 8 Grażyna Osmańska / Adam Brodecki 9 Linda Connolly / Colin Taylforth 10 Florence Cahn / Jean-Roland Racle 11 Dana Fialová / Josef Tůma 12 Karin Künzle / Christian Künzle 13 Teresa Skrzek / Piotr Szczypa 14 Evelyne Schneider / Wilhelm Bietak 15 Helena Gazvoda / Silvo Švejger
Ice dance Rank Name Places 1 Lyudmila Pakhomova / Aleksandr Gorshkov 2 Angelika Buck / Erich Buck 3 Susan Getty / Roy Bradshaw 4 Tetyana Voytyuk / Vyacheslav Zhyhalyn 5 Janet Sawbridge / Peter Dalby 6 Yelena Zharkova / Gennadiy Karponosov 7 Hilary Green / Glynn Watts 8 Diana Skotnická / Martin Skotnický 9 Teresa Weyna / Piotr Bojańczyk 10 Ilona Berecz / István Sugár 11 Anne-Claude Wolfers / Roland Mars 12 Matilde Ciccia / Lamberto Ceserani 13 Astrid Kopp / Axel Kopp 14 Krisztina Regőczy / András Sallay 15 Tatiana Grossen / Alessandro Grossen 16 Sylvia Fuchs / Michael Fuchs 17 Ewa Kołodziej / Tadeusz Góra 18 Brigitte Ydrault / Pascal Germe 19 Agnes Arco / Adrian Perco 20 Vivi Poulsen / Kurt Poulsen
References
Sources "Europeans", Skating magazine, Apr 1971
External links results