Retrospective: The 1968 Olympics

[Maofan7]

Trixi Schuba and Gary Visconti being interviewed in 2018

World Figure Sport Society Trixi Schuba Gary Visconti 09.27.18 Good Morning Vail

www.youtube.com

 

[Maofan7]

RETROSPECTIVE: THE 1967 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

As there is very little footage of the 4 world championships leading up to the 1968 Olympics, I am placing the retrospectives relating to the quad cycle which culminated in the 1968 Olympics under the umbrella of this thread. And I will be going backwards, starting with the 1967 World Championships.

The following are the key facts relating to the 1967 World Championships:-

• The 1967 World Championships were the very last to be held in an outdoor rink. They were held in Vienna, Austria, between the 28th Feb 1967 – 4th March 1967, and all of the defending champions in each event retained their world titles.
  
  
• In the Men's competition, Emmerich Danzer retained the world title that he had won for the first time the year before. However, it was Wolfgang Schwarz who led after the compulsory figures, with Danzer doing enough in the FS to win the title by a very narrow margin. Gary Visconti, who had been 5th after the compulsories, attempted two triples in his FS. The fact that he landed one of them was enough to move him up to third overall to take the bronze. He said afterwards: "But you know me, I'm going to give them the works!"
  
  
• Peggy Fleming had also won her first world title at the 1966 World Championships, and like Danzer, she retained her title at these championships. She scored 1,223.4 points, plus a perfect score of nine ordinals, in her compulsory figures to lead by 69 points. She then went on to win the title, despite falling on a 2A in her FS. On her fall, Fleming said afterwards: "I got a little behind my music and I was trying to catch up. And I got a little too close to the wall." Gabriele Seyfert took the silver, and Hana Maskova the bronze. Both the Canadian and Czechoslovakian judges placed Hana Maskova 1st in the FS, ahead of both Peggy Fleming and Gaby Seyfert, despite her singling out on a 2Z and 2R. On her 2nd placed finish, Seyfert said: "Peggy has no weaknesses. I am the more athletic type but I am trying to overcome that. The ideal thing would be to skate as Peggy does, which is softly, and then connect it with the high jumps between." Valerie Jones had been second after the compulsory figures, but fell back to 4th overall after her FS (she had also finished 4th at the 1966 World Championships)
  
  
• Husband and wife, Ludmila Belousova & Oleg Protopopov won their first world title in the pairs at the 1965 World Championships (after having won the 1964 Olympic title), retaining the title the following year. They won the event again at the 1967 World Championships to make it a hat trick, and would retain it again the following year to make it 4 in a row. During this period, they introduced three death spirals – the backward inside (BIDS), the forward inside (FIDS), and the forward outside (FODS), with Dick Button stating that their "creative impact was extraordinary."
  
  
• Ice Dance did not become an Olympic sport until 1976. However, it had been included in the world championships since 1952, with the British dominating the sport throughout the 1950's and 1960's. Great Britain's Diane Towler / Bernard Ford won their first title at the 1966 World Championships, and skating to Zorba the Greek, they retained their title at these championships.
  
  
• Valerie Jones's FS featured vocals in the music score. She later told @floskate that: "The music was the first time Lyrics were skated in a competitive program. The ISU decided that Lyrics were not appropriate and created the rule of no Lyrics until very recently in Single Skating. Mr. Galbraith suggested to me that 1967 was a year for change and decided that the selection of the last lyrical piece would be unique. The ISU was not ready for this change in 1967"

The results and what footage their is, is as follows:-

MEN

Gold: Emmerich Danzer (Austria)

British Pathe footage of the free skates for all 3 medalists, plus the medal ceremony

Exhibition

Silver: Wolfgang Schwarz (Austria)

Bronze: Gary Visconti (USA)


LADIES

Gold: Peggy Fleming (USA)

Free Skate

Silver: Gabriele Seyfert (East Germany)

Free Skate

Bronze: Hana Mašková (Czechoslovakia)

Free Skate

4th: Valerie Jones (Canada)

Free Skate

8th: Jennie Walsh (USA)

Free Skate

12th: Karen Magnussen (Canada)

Free Skate


PAIRS

Gold: Ludmila Belousova / Oleg Protopopov (USSR)

British Pathe footage of the free skates from the medalists + medal Ceremony

Silver: Margot Glockshuber / Wolfgang Danne (West Germany)

Bronze: Cynthia Kauffman / Ronald Kauffman (USA)

Free Skate


ICE DANCE

Gold: Diane Towler / Bernard Ford (GBR)

Free Dance (Partial)

Silver: Lorna Dyer / John Carrell (USA)

Free Dance

Bronze: Yvonne Suddick / Malcolm Cannon (GBR)

Free Dance (Partial)

 

[Maofan7]

Peggy Fleming performing her compulsory figures at 1967 Worlds

 

[ldec]

I'm sorry I don't have much to contribute but I wanted to express my gratitude to @Maofan7 for taking the time to write these amazing retrospective posts. They are incredibly informative and it is very interesting to go back in time through the decades. Keep up the great work!

 

[Maofan7]

The 1967 World Championships were held at the WEV (Wiener Eislaufverein, Vienna Ice Skating Club), which at the time was celebrating its centenary, having been founded on the 7th February 1867. It marked its 150th anniversary in 2017. Jackson Haines, an American ballet dancer and figure skater, helped the ice rink to gain popularity in 1868 when he performed the Viennese Waltz on the ice.

This is what the rink looks like today

 

[Maofan7]

More footage from the Men’s competition at the 1967 World Champions. As well as featuring Emmerich Danzer and Wolfgang Schwarz, this video also features Donald Knight, who finished 4th, Scott Allen, who placed 5th, and Tsuguhiko Kozuka, who finished 17th.

AUSTRIA: CHAMPION RETAINS TITLE IN WORLD SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

EMMERICH+DANZER%2C+THE+AUSTRIAN+CHAMPION%2C+RETAINED+HIS+TITLE+IN+THE+MEN%27S+EVENT+OF+THE+WORLD+FIGURE+SKATING+CHAMPIONSHIPS+IN+VIENNA+TONIGHT+%28FRIDAY%29.

www.britishpathe.com

 

[Maofan7]

More footage from the Ladies competition at the 1967 World Championships. The following video features Kumiko Okawa, who finished 5th, and Sally-Anne Stapleford, who placed 6th, as well as Peggy Fleming, Gaby Seyfert, and Valerie Jones.

AUSTRIA: CHAMPION RETAINS TITLE IN WORLD SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS DESPITE FALL.

AMERICAN+PEGGY+FLEMING+RETAINED+HER+WORLD+FIGURE+SKATING+TITLE+IN+VIENNA+TONIGHT+%28SATURDAY%29+DESPITE+FALLING+IN+THE+CONCLUDING+FREE+SKATING+SECTION.

www.britishpathe.com

 

[Maofan7]

The following video from the 1967 World Championships is entitled “British Figure Skaters In Action”. However, it features Donald Knight (wrongly spelt “Night” in the description) and Valerie Jones, who are in fact both Canadian

BRITISH FIGURE SKATERS IN ACTION

British+figure+skaters+in+action+on+the+ice.++Valerie+Jones+and+Donald+Night.

www.britishpathe.com

 

[Maofan7]

The following video from the 1967 World Championships has more footage from all of the medalists in the pairs competition

AUSTRIA: VIENNA: SOVIET PAIR BELOUSOVA AND PROTOPOPOV RETAIN WORLD PAIRS SKATING TITLE.

LJUDMILA+BELOUSOVA+AND+OLEG+PROTOPOPOV+OF+THE+SOVIET+UNION+TONIGHT+%28WEDNESDAY%29+RETAINED+THE+WORLD+FIGURE+SKATING+TITLE+AT+VIENNA.

www.britishpathe.com

 

[Maofan7]

Donald Knight finished 9th at the 1964 Olympics and won the bronze medal at the 1965 World Championships. His last competition was at the 1967 World Championships, where he finished 4th. Rather than carry on another year until the 1968 Olympics, he turned professional after 1967 Worlds and joined Ice Capades.

Don Knight – Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame

Don Knight

Don was the 1965, ’66 and ’67 Canadian national senior mens’ figure skating champion and 1967 North American champion. Don, born in Hamilton and raised in Du...

m.youtube.com

Back then, it was not just about the Olympics. Skaters also needed to wrestle with the issue of whether and when to turn professional, the issues surrounding which are set out in the following articles:-

How to Train Like an Olympic Figure Skater

From practicing and training to eating and competitions, all figure skaters can train like Olympians.

www.liveabout.com

Professional vs amateur argument is still rife in figure skating - UPI Archives

In most sports, success at the Olympic Games means the start of long and exciting careers. In figure skating, things are more complicated....

www.upi.com

 

[skatesindreams]

David Jenkins talks about USFS attitude toward him ("frozen out") after turning Pro; during his interview with Allison Manley.

 

[Maofan7]

David Jenkins talks about USFS attitude toward him ("frozen out") after turning Pro; during his interview with Allison Manley.

Doesn't time fly! Its been over 5 years since she completed her interviews and she interviewed practically everybody there was to interview. Incredible achievement!

Episode #47: David Jenkins - figure skating interviews : Manleywoman SkateCast

An interview with David Jenkins, 1956 Olympic Bronze medalist, 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist, 3-time World Champion and 4-time US National Champion.

www.manleywoman.com

 

[Maofan7]

Ondrej Nepela finished 8th at the 1968 Olympics. There is no video available of his FS, but here is his FS from the 1968 European Championships

Ondrej Nepela - 1968 European Figure Skating Championship LP

Ondrej turned 17 on the eve of this competition and yet this was already his fourth Europeans and would result in his third bronze medal behind Emmerich Danz...

m.youtube.com

Ondrej Nepela - The Lost Champion

5 time European Champion, 3 time World Champion and 1972 Olympic Champion, Ondrej Nepela is one of the forgotten champions of Figure Skating, despite his inc...

m.youtube.com

Nepela would go onto win the 1972 Olympic title

 

[Maofan7]

1968 Olympic silver medalist, Gaby Seyfert, with Monika Feldmann who finished 10th

 

[Maofan7]

Peggy Fleming with Janet Lynn and Albertina Noyes at the 1968 Olympics

Janet Lynn said in a recent interview that when she was asked by Journalists at the 1968 Olympics what she most missed from home, she said "hamburgers.” That prompted McDonald’s to fly a large consignment of them out to the American Olympic team in Grenoble, and to later start sponsoring the Olympic Games. She also said in the same interview that Dick Button later told her that she was the reason why compulsory figures were removed from figure skating altogether. Personally, I also think that the fact that the wider public could not relate to them and did not see them in any of the TV coverage, that they were getting in the way of casual sports fans from becoming interested in the sport, and pressure from TV networks was also a factor. In fact, Sandra Loosemore believes that TV was the "driving force" behind the change

Olympics skating medalist Janet Lynn: 'I really like the Ice Chalet'

Janet Lynn values the leadership and sportsmanship found at 60-year-old Bearden skating venue.

eu.knoxnews.com

 

[Maximillian]

Just getting to watch some of these vids now and its interesting to note that Schuba did not attempt the 2A in Grenoble after she landed one at the Europeans that same year. I have to say I really enjoy some of the edges she holds, especially the long back outside one into the 2L at the beginning. Also interesting that she never lifts her arm to or above shoulder height throughout the FS which speaks to her figures technique and a generally 'old school' approach to skating technique.

 

[Maofan7]

Team USA at the 1967 World Championships

Photo features: (L-R) Scott Allen, Gary Visconti, Cindy Kauffman, Peggy Fleming and Ronald Kauffman

 

[floskate]

Nice to see you back doing retrospectives @Maofan7. I love 1967 Worlds because it was the very last outdoor championship. There's just something about these old championships; the judges sitting on the ice and traipsing out to hold up their marks, the lack of kiss and cry, the incredible enthusiasm of the crowd and their resolute determination to make their displeasure at the judges apparent wherever necessary. A simpler way of doing things but it creates a unique atmosphere that is lost now.

I should add some videos to aid these retrospectives along!!