1972 European Figure Skating Championships

1972 European Championships
Type:	ISU Championship
Season:	1971-72
Location:	Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue:	Scandinavium
Champions
Men's singles: Ondrej Nepela
Ladies' singles: Beatrix Schuba
Pairs: Irina Rodnina / Aleksey Ulanov
Ice dance: Angelika Buck / Erich Buck
Previous: 1971 European Championships
Next: 1973 European Championships

The 1972 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior-level international competition held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden on January 11–15. 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.

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.

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	30
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

External links

• results