Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete, Champion Competition Figure Skater. Born in Bratislava, Slovakia in what was then the nation of Czechoslovakia, he won the Men's Singles Figure Skating World Championship three years in a row (1971, 1972 and 1973), and won the European Men's Singles Figure Skating Championship five years in a row (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973). He competed in three Winter Olympic Games, first as a thirteen-year old in 1964 in Innsbruck, Austrian, then second at the 1968 games in Grenoble, France, placing 22nd and 8th, respectively in the Men's Singles Figure Skating events. By the time he competed in the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, as a member of the Czechoslovakian Olympic Team, he had established himself as the best men's singles figure skater in the world. He would continue his dominant run in international figure skating competitions by winning the Gold Medal in the Men's Singles event with a score of 2739.1, easily defeating the next two runners-up, the Soviet Union's Sergei Chetverukhin and France's Patrick Péra. He retired from amateur competition after 1973, and skated professionally until 1986 with the "Holiday on Ice" ice skating entertainment show. He then became a skating coach until his passing of AIDS in 1989. The main ice arena in his native Bratislava has been named for him.
Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete, Champion Competition Figure Skater. Born in Bratislava, Slovakia in what was then the nation of Czechoslovakia, he won the Men's Singles Figure Skating World Championship three years in a row (1971, 1972 and 1973), and won the European Men's Singles Figure Skating Championship five years in a row (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973). He competed in three Winter Olympic Games, first as a thirteen-year old in 1964 in Innsbruck, Austrian, then second at the 1968 games in Grenoble, France, placing 22nd and 8th, respectively in the Men's Singles Figure Skating events. By the time he competed in the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, as a member of the Czechoslovakian Olympic Team, he had established himself as the best men's singles figure skater in the world. He would continue his dominant run in international figure skating competitions by winning the Gold Medal in the Men's Singles event with a score of 2739.1, easily defeating the next two runners-up, the Soviet Union's Sergei Chetverukhin and France's Patrick Péra. He retired from amateur competition after 1973, and skated professionally until 1986 with the "Holiday on Ice" ice skating entertainment show. He then became a skating coach until his passing of AIDS in 1989. The main ice arena in his native Bratislava has been named for him.
Bio by: JonVancouver
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