The VII World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held on 23–24 November 1975 in Madrid, Spain. The competition was originally scheduled to be held 20–23 November. However, after the death of Francisco Franco on 20 November, no events could be held until after his funeral, which was scheduled for 23 November. The competition instead began immediately after his funeral and was extended to the evening of the 24th.
14 countries participated; 11 (all but Israel, New Zealand, and the United States) sent groups, and 37 individuals competed. Great Britain and Switzerland sent gymnasts for the first time. Groups competed with three balls and three ropes. The groups and gymnasts with the top six scores in the qualifying round advanced to the finals.
No Communist countries attended the championships, meaning no gymnasts from any countries that medaled at the 1973 Championships (Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary) were in attendance, and North Korea also did not attend. Finnish gymnasts were originally entered into the competition, but they were told two days beforehand that they could not attend. Denmark declined to send gymnasts for financial reasons.
During the competition, one judge was appointed specifically to watch for acrobatic elements, which were prohibited; many judges had difficulty understanding which elements counted as acrobatic, and some gymnasts had to change their routines before the competition to remove the prohibited elements.
West Germany dominated the competition, winning 9 medals. West German Carmen Rischer won three individual medals, including the all-around, making her Germany's first World champion. Fellow German Christiana Rosenberg won gold in the other two finals. In the hoop final, Midori Koriki was penalized one point because her hoop was weighed and shown to be too light. The crowd booed the result loudly, and other gymnasts brought her to the stage to be cheered for. During that final, another Japanese gymnast, Mitsuru Hiraguchi, won Japan's first World Championships medal, gold, tied with Rischer.
Medal table Place Country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 5 4 0 9 2 1 1 0 2 3 1 0 0 1 4 0 1 5 6 Individual
Clubs Place Nation Name AA Score AF Score Total1Christiana Rosenberg9.2509.35018.6002=Carmen Rischer9.1509.35018.5002=María Jesús Alegre9.2509.25018.5004Cristina Cammelli9.1509.20018.3505=Ute Barylla9.0508.90017.9505=Yoko Morino8.9509.00017.950
Ball Place Nation Name AA Score AF Score Total1Christiana Rosenberg9.3509.25018.6002Carmen Rischer9.1009.20018.3003María Jesús Alegre9.0509.20018.2504Mitsuru Hiraguchi9.0009.15018.1505Yoko Morino8.9009.20018.1006Cristina Cammelli8.9508.95017.900
Ribbon Place Nation Name AA Score AF Score Total1Carmen Rischer9.4509.50018.9502Christiana Rosenberg9.4509.45018.9003Begoña Blasco9.2009.25018.4504=Ute Barylla9.1509.20018.3504=Africa Blesa9.2509.10018.3506Marina Odorici9.0508.80017.850
Hoop Place Nation Name AA Score AF Score Total1=Mitsuru Hiraguchi9.1509.25018.4001=Carmen Rischer9.4009.00018.4003María Jesús Alegre9.1509.10018.2504Yoko Morino9.1509.00018.1505Ute Barylla9.0009.10018.1006Midori Koriki9.3508.35017.700
Individual All-Around Place Nation Name Clubs Ball Ribbon Hoop Total1Carmen Rischer9.1509.1009.4509.40037.1002Christiana Rosenberg9.2509.3509.4508.65036.7003María Jesús Alegre9.2509.0508.9009.15036.3504Ute Barylla9.0508.8509.1509.00036.0505Yoko Morino8.9508.9009.0009.15036.0006=Cristina Cammelli9.1508.9508.9508.85035.9006=Marina Odorici8.9508.9009.0509.00035.9008Midori Koriki8.8508.908.6509.35035.7509=Africa Blesa8.7008.9009.2508.85035.7009=Mitsuru Hiraguchi8.6009.0008.9509.15035.70011Begoña Blasco8.6008.7509.2008.80035.35012Silvia d'Alberti8.5508.5008.4508.75034.25013Shirley Lethinen8.2508.4008.5508.70033.90014=Doreen Chung8.4508.2508.5508.60033.85014=Denise Fujiwara8.9008.6007.8508.50033.85016Ines Oliveira8.3507.9508.6508.35033.30017Josette Bellanger8.4507.8508.5008.35033.15018Patricia Vanauld7.3008.4008.5508.50032.75019=Cristine Delaporte8.2507.8508.3508.10032.50019=Rita de Leenheer8.6507.6508.2507.95032.50021Helen Martinez8.2007.8008.2508.20032.45022Petra Ovcaric8.0507.6008.2507.90031.80023Candice Feinberg7.6508.0008.0008.05031.70024Catherine Bucheton7.9008.4008.4506.75031.50025Brita de Kimpe8.1007.2007.8508.15031.30026Batia Masnikov8.4507.1007.5508.00031.10027Janette Ralph8.1507.2007.9007.65030.90028=Ilanith Frankfurt7.6507.3507.9507.90030.85028=Doris Kandler8.3007.2507.5507.75030.85030Kathryn Brym8.0507.2007.4008.15030.80031=Edith Haas7.9007.4507.7007.60030.65031=Janice Heale7.9007.2007.7507.80030.65033Recouvith Bloch7.0507.2507.8508.05030.20034Kaye Wilson7.7507.4506.7007.55029.45035Elisabeth Mann7.2506.4007.2507.75028.65036Barbara Mould7.7005.8007.4007.60028.50037Eileen Ward6.7505.7006.5006.30025.250
Groups
Groups Final Place Nation Preliminary Score Final Score Total118.30018.65036.950217.95018.65036.600317.85018.20036.050416.65017.05033.700516.60016.80033.400616.65016.05032.700
Groups Preliminary Place Nation Score118.300217.950317.8504=16.6504=16.650616.600716.100815.900915.8501015.6501115.200
References