Ondrej Nepela

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ondrej Nepela

Nepela in 1972
Personal information
Country represented  Czechoslovakia
Born (1951-01-22)22 January 1951
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
(now Slovakia)
Died 2 February 1989(1989-02-02) (aged 38)
Mannheim, Germany
Former coach Hilda Múdra
Retired 1973
Olympic medal record
Men's figure skating
Competitor for  Czechoslovakia
Gold 1972 Sapporo Singles

Ondrej Nepela (22 January 1951 – 2 February 1989) was a Slovak figure skater who competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Czechoslovakia. He was the 1972 Olympic champion and a three-time World champion. Later in his career, he performed professionally and became a coach.

Career

Born in Bratislava (then in Czechoslovakia), Nepela began skating at age seven.[1] He was coached by Hilda Múdra.[2] His first major international competition, at age 13, was the 1964 Winter Olympics; he finished 22nd. He went on to win the European Championships five times between 1969 to 1973; the World Championships in 1971, 1972, and 1973; and the 1972 Winter Olympics. Nepela wanted to retire from competition after the 1972 season, but agreed to continue one more year because the 1973 World Championships were to be held in his home town of Bratislava.

In 1972 he was awarded the title of Merited Master of Sport of the USSR.[3]

In his second autobiography, Toller Cranston details a sexual tryst between himself and Nepela at the 1973 World Championships.[4] Cranston was distracted and affected by their sexual affair and placed fifth while Nepela won the event and even earned a perfect 6.0 during his free skate.

Following his amateur skating career, Nepela toured for 13 years as a soloist with Holiday on Ice. He then established himself as a coach in Germany. He coached Claudia Leistner to her European title in 1989.

Nepela died of AIDS-related complications in February 1989, at the age of 38.[1] Since 1993, the Slovak Figure Skating Association has held a competition each fall called the Ondrej Nepela Memorial. In December 2000, the Slovak Republic named him Slovak athlete of the 20th century. His former coach, Hilda Múdra, received the award on his behalf.[5]

Results

Event 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73
Winter Olympics 22nd 8th 1st
World Championships 17th 16th 8th 6th 6th 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st
European Championships 8th 3rd 3rd 3rd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Czechoslovakian Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Prize of Moscow News 1st

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ondrej Nepela" (in Slovak). osobnosti.sk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Otázky a odpovede: Na otázky odpovedala Hilda Múdra" [Questions and answers with Hilda Múdra] (in Slovak). Pravda (Slovakia). 19 March 2008. 
  3. ↑ Panorama of the 1972 Sports Year (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. 1973. pp. 122–124. 
  4. ↑ Cranston, Toller; Martha Lowder Kimball (2000). When Hell Freezes Over: Should I Bring My Skates?. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-2337-5. 
  5. ↑ "Hilda Múdra" (in Slovak). osobnosti.sk. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ondrej Nepela.
Authority control
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.