III World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held on 18 and 19 December 1967 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Fifteen countries entered the competition, with eleven sending groups; Italy only sent a group, while Brazil, France, Hungary, and Venezuela only sent individuals. Israel intended to send gymnasts, but they were unable to attend due to administrative issues. They did send observers, along with South Africa, Japan, and the United States. Each country could send a group, consisting of six gymnasts, and up to three individual competitors and an individual alternate.
Five events were contested. Groups performed a hoop routine, while individuals performed a compulsory rope routine, optional routines with the rope and hoop as well as freehand (no apparatus). The scores for the compulsory and optional rope routines were added, and all-around medals were also awarded.
The Soviet Union won the group competition, followed by Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. The Bulgarian group received the highest scores from the judges, but they also received a penalty for using hoops that were too large. Unusually, the Russian group used hoops of two different sizes, which was not against the rules at the time. Barbara Sundby, an observer, from the United States, wrote that the Cuban group, which tied for fourth, was well-received by the audience, but that they focused too much on folk dance rather than gymnastic movements. She noted that there was significant discussion after the event about how to differentiate rhythmic gymnastics from ballet, acrobatics, and folk dance as well as about better standardization of the apparatuses.
Soviet gymnasts also dominated the individual competition, winning 7 of the 13 medals awarded, including two of the four golds. The vast majority of the individual gymnasts performed with a live accompanist, with only 7 using taped music.
Participants Nation Name Nation Name Nation Name Nation Name Elena Karpuchina Ute Lehmann Liubov Sereda Natalia Ovtchinnikova Hana Sitnianská Hana Machatová-Bogušovská Krassimira Filipova Irene Binder Maria Gigova Rosemarie Halbritter Jiřina Machatová-Langová Maria Patocska Neshka Robeva Grazina Bojanska Sonia Pedroso Tatiana Radovanovic Zsuzsanna Fritsch Krystyna Szczepanska Maren Klüssendorf Ivana Obucina Gordana Veberovic Thais Albertini Hernandez Heide Grimminger Lone Broberg Teglers Anne-Marie Estivin Judit Papp Elisabeth Rösel Gilberte Vander Mersch Alejandra O'Farrill Joan Kornvig Carmen Cabrera Josette Pinon Annette Destercke Luthegarde Van Nuffel Daisy Pinto Barros Anne-Marie Raynaud Birthe Vestergaard Maria Sanchez Ziwille Florowska
Medal table Place Country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Soviet Union 3 4 1 8 2 Czechoslovakia 1 1 0 2 3 Bulgaria 1 0 3 4 4 East Germany 0 1 1 2
Individuals Rope Rank Nation Name Score1Hana Sitnianská18.3992Elena Karpuchina 18.3663Ute Lehmann18.3334Hana Machatová-Bogušovská18.1325Liubov Sereda18.1006Neshka Robeva17.966
Hoop Rank Nation Name Score1Maria Gigova9.466=2Elena Karpuchina 9.400=2Natalia Ovtchinnikova9.4004Liubov Sereda9.3005Ute Lehmann9.2666Sonia Pedroso9.200
Freehand Rank Nation Name Score1Liubov Sereda9.5332Natalia Ovtchinnikova9.500 3=Krassimira Filipova9.4663=Neshka Robeva9.4665=Elena Karpuchina 9.4335=Hana Machatová-Bogušovská9.433
All-Around Rank Nation Name Rope Hoop Freehand Total 1 Elena Karpuchina 18.3669.4009.43337.199 2 Ute Lehmann 18.3339.2669.36636.965 3 Liubov Sereda 18.1009.3009.53336.933 4 Natalia Ovtchinnikova 17.9339.4009.50036.833 5 Hana Sitnianská 18.3999.1009.33336.832 6 Hana Machatová-Bogušovská 18.1329.0669.43336.631 7 Krassimira Filipova 17.7669.0009.46636.232 8 Irene Binder 17.7668.9339.23335.932 9 Maria Gigova 17.3339.4669.10035.899 10 = Rosemarie Halbritter 17.6998.9009.20035.799 10 = Jiřina Machatová-Langová 17.8998.6009.30035.799 12 Maria Patocska 17.7338.8339.20035.766 13 Neshka Robeva 17.9668.1669.46635.598 14 Grazina Bojanska 17.5998.6339.30035.532 15 Sonia Pedroso 17.2339.2009.03335.466 16 Tatiana Radovanovic 17.3998.9338.96635.298 17 Zsuzsanna Fritsch 17.5328.6339.06635.231 18 Krystyna Szczepanska 17.4668.3669.20035.032 19 Maren Klüssendorf 17.6668.2668.60034.532 20 Ivana Obucina 16.8338.7008.90034.433 21 Gordana Veberovic 17.0668.3338.80034.199 22 Thais Albertini Hernandez 16.7998.6008.66634.065 23 Heide Grimminger 16.9338.5008.40033.833 24 Lone Broberg Teglers 16.6338.6338.56633.832 25 Anne-Marie Estivin 16.6328.7668.43333.831 26 Judit Papp 16.4668.3008.86633.632 27 Elisabeth Rösel 16.6008.1338.86633.599 28 Gilberte Vander Mersch 16.2338.4338.56633.232 29 Alejandra O'Farrill 15.9998.4008.66633.065 30 Joan Kornvig 16.0998.1668.46632.731 31 = Carmen Cabrera 16.2668.1008.33332.699 31 = Josette Pinon 15.7338.4338.53332.699 33 Annette Destercke 15.6668.2008.43332.299 34 Luthegarde Van Nuffel 15.5668.1338.56632.265 35 Daisy Pinto Barros 15.3668.4667.56631.398 36 Anne-Marie Raynaud 14.4337.6338.53330.599 37 Birthe Vestergaard 14.3668.3337.80030.499 38 Maria Sanchez 14.4997.8667.16629.531 39 Ziwille Florowska 8.4668.0669.06625.598
Groups Rank Nation Score1 Soviet Union18.5752 Czechoslovakia18.3753 Bulgaria18.2004= Cuba18.0254= East Germany18.0256 Italy18.0007 Yugoslavia17.7258 West Germany17.6509 Poland17.45010 Belgium16.62511 Denmark16.400
References
External links Results