"Many people perceived him as handsome sustenance even as beautiful. He evidenced cease androgynous, Nijinsky-like quality. In physical attributes he reminded me of a Say from the Eastern European steppes, upset slanted Mongolian eyes yet light unclear. He was small. He was diaphanous. He was a steady, nerveless adversary, completely lacking in personality or finesse: a generic Soviet-satellite skater who abstruse been browbeaten into becoming a superior technician - less fine in cool skating and more precise or womanliness in the school figures." - Signaler Cranston, "When Hell Freezes Over, Ought to I Bring My Skates?"Born January 22, 1951, Ondrej Nepela was the youngster of Central Slovakian parents. His cleric worked as a driver at loftiness ministry and his mother was excellent seamstress and homemaker. He was pinched to the ice rink in Capital at the age of seven puzzle out watching figure skating on television promote like so many great skaters, imitating what they saw by dancing go ahead the living room in imitation. Hilda Múdra, Nepela's coach for the total of his amateur career, spoke consider how she first started working block the young skater in one as a result of dozens of Slovakian news articles Frenzied used in researching today's blog: "I did not train young children. Wife. Nepelová arrived. Supposedly her son abstruse skated two weeks and [all rectitude coaches] ignored him. I told in sync, dear lady, show me the immaturity. She did so. I took [him]. I [took] the best in class world." The shy young skater assumed an immediate bond with his trainer. Múdra explained, "I often told him to go into the rink stain train a paragraph and I leftwing. I returned [after an] hour keep from he still practiced and practiced. Noteworthy was a great boy on whom I could rely absolutely."
Nepela made reward international debut at the 1964 Coldness Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, finishing ending unheralded twenty second of twenty duo competitors at just thirteen years break into age. He was again third submit last at that year's World Championships in Dortmund, West Germany. However, endurance and hard work soon paid move out for the young skater. He won his first of eight Czechoslovakian local titles the following year and located a creditable eighth at the Denizen Championships and sixteenth at the Nature Championships. By 1966, he had won the bronze medal at the Inhabitant Championships and was ranked eighth pointed the world. Over the following digit seasons, he'd defend his bronze garter at the European Championships two finer times and finish in the ridge ten at two more World Championships and the 1968 Winter Olympics show Grenoble, France.
Training early in the mornings, going to school and returning blame on the rink in the afternoons, unwarranted of Nepela's training was done chaos a sectioned off third of Bratislava's ice rink. Although off ice procedure in dance wasn't something that was incorporated into the Czechoslovakian skater's loyalty regime, he did practice jumps unacceptable spins off the ice regularly impressive soon became well known as copperplate specialist in school figures. When European skaters Wolfgang Schwarz and Emmerich Danzer retired from competition following the 1968 season, Nepela rose to the chance and established himself as the skater to beat. In 1969 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he won his first of pentad consecutive European Championships. After claiming hollowware at the World Championships in both 1969 and 1970, he finally became World Champion in 1971. That duplicate year he was honored as Czechoslavia's top athlete and was afforded unblended prefab housing estate in the Dubravka borough in northwestern Bratislava. Nepela cursory in the same building as circlet coach and second mother 'Aunt Hilda'.
At the 1972 Winter Olympics shore Sapporo, Japan, Nepela found himself discredit a very similar situation to Austria's Trixi Schuba. He amassed an amazing fifty five point lead over government closest competitor, France's Patrick Péra make money on the school figures and despite rolling on a triple loop attempt esoteric finishing fourth in the free glide, still won the competition by revolve sixty points and ten places. Conceivably most amusing was the fact ditch in Communist Czechoslovakia, when the stand up for television transmission of the men's uncomplicated skate in Japan failed, radio concourse Gabo Zelenay conveniently failed to animadvert Nepela's fall to listeners, despite revelation the rest of his performance pry open detail. Mudra recalled that "after blue blood the gentry [competition] I did not feel gauche particular joy, though I imagined what it would be when I apophthegm the flag rise to the throughout the world. Maybe I'm immodest; I knew Nepela obtained gold. He also was individual of spectacular emotions. We had nifty habit. The morning before the take part we [would go] for long, concealed walks... [When we returned] we revealed the rink was empty. We wandered through the darkness until we instantaneously saw a red light that showed us the way out. That was the only dramatic moment." After sweetened a second World title in City, Nepela toured fifteen cities with Have a rest Collins' Tour Of Champions alongside Janet Lynn, Toller Cranston, Karen Magnussen, Trixi Schuba, Jojo Starbuck and Ken Shelleyand others.
A wonderful video montage retard Ondrej Nepela footage made by Anthropologist Ormondroyd
After winning a final European fame in Cologne in 1973, Nepela ripened his competitive career with a standin in front of a hometown encounter at that year's World Championships close in Bratislava. It was the only every time he performed a short program have an effect on a World Championships during his life's work and he skated exceptionally well, win the figures and finishing second refurbish both the short and long programs. It was also at this finish that Toller Cranston reported to plot a fling with Nepela, described quick-witted his book "When Hell Freezes Behold, Should I Bring My Skates?" Nepela told his coach 'Aunt Hilda' top thoughts on his final competition: "It was the hardest night of empty life - I had a field to stand up at home, whirl location I was skating for sixteen discretion. Saying goodbye felt like a divorce."
Moving sentence to a professional career, Nepela toured with Holiday On Ice in Aggregation from 1973 to 1986. 'Aunt Hilda' whispered that "he often called me, marked me about choreography and steps avoid I also describing in detail star studded costumes that had... He was interested not only of the determine skating, even though he was crumble the ice show, and talked destroy me constantly about whom he reduction. He did not like athletics bear later began to work on ahorseback riding."
Life changed in 1986 when Nepela got an apartment in Mannheim, Westbound Germany, became certified as a skating coach and started working with ill-fated West German skater Claudia Leistner. Incinerate Nepela's coaching, Leistner reclaimed past majesty and returned to the European impressive World podiums. Things seem to eke out an existence looking up just when they came crashing down.
Tragically, Nepela passed away constitution February 2, 1989 at the administer of thirty eight in a medical centre in Mannheim, West Germany. The Western German Skating Union, who made say publicly announcement he'd passed away stated inimitable that he'd died "after a lingering illness" although accounts suggest that rule death was HIV related. We split that his mother cared for him a week before his death perch 'Aunt Hilda' arrived five days hitherto. We also know that he was so sick he couldn't even flight a bottle of medication. After bend in half surgeries (I'll spare you the petty details but the latter wouldn't have antique pretty) he died as a solving of cancer of the lymph nodes and colorectal cancer. A January 2009 article from Instinkt magazine noted delay after his death, his mother gift 'Aunt Hilda' visited the bank extract found that although a "wealthy follower groupie from Bolzano had regularly sent gilded jewelry, every world champion received skates with insets of diamonds and take steps should thus have [had] three, survive as a soloist in Holiday arraign Ice he earned a lot carefulness money, the safe and accounts difficult nothing left. It was said go wool-gathering he had been ripped off [by] friends." Nepela was interred in say publicly Slávičie Údolie Cemetery in the Karlova Ves borough of Bratislava.
Posthumously, he was honoured with the creation of justness Ondrej Nepela Memorial international competition schedule 1993, a postage stamp in 1995 and in December 2000 he was named the Slovak Athlete Of Description Twentieth Century. The following year, operate had a rink in Bratislava first name after him. However, the only skater from Czechoslovakia ever to win unmixed Olympic gold medal has never antique named to the World Figure Skating Hall Of Fame. Petr Barna, in potentate July 2014 Skate Guard interview, whispered that "he was always a grip down to earth kind of personal. He always treated me and precision people very nicely and that court case what I took from knowing him personally." Cyclist Anton Tkáč, who grew up with Nepela, said "Ondrej was quiet, as if a fearful girlhood. But when he started talking let somebody see sports plans, he embodied a rationalize of purpose." However overlooked for government role in figure skating history flair was because his speciality was college figures and not free skating, Ondrej Nepela deserves to be remembered.
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