Erika Zuchold

Erika Zuchold
— Gymnast —

Zuchold in 1972
Personal information
Country represented  East Germany
Born (1947-03-19)March 19, 1947
Lucka
Died 22 August 2015
Asunción
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Retired 1972

Erika Zuchold (née Barth; 19 March 1947 – 22 August 2015) was an East German gymnast who competed at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid-1960s to early 1970s.[1][2]

She, along with Karin Janz, was one of the two most significant (in terms of medals won at major championships) female German gymnasts of her era, co-leading, with Janz, the East German team to both the Team Bronze at the 1968 Olympics and improving upon that, again with Janz, to win the Team Silver at the 1972 Olympics.

The highlight of her career came at the 1970 World Championships where she placed second in the Individual all-around behind the Soviet Ludmilla Tourischeva and returned to win Gold on both Vault and Balance Beam in event finals.[2]

Quite notably, Zuchold is credited as being the first woman to compete the flick-flack element on balance beam at a Worlds or Olympics, at the 1966 World Championships (performed first time at East German championship 1964 in Halle (Saale)), as well as being one of the first two women, along with Věra Čáslavská at the 1968 Olympics, to compete a front handspring on balance beam.[3] She also had a transition element named after her on uneven bars.[2]

In her post-gymnastics career, she explored a number of diverse activities and careers, including being a trapeze artist, a curator, an educator, and an abstract painter. In 2005, Zuchold was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[2]

She was married to the cyclist Dieter Zuchold (1937–2014).[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ LVZ-Online. "Leipziger Turnerin Erika Zuchold ist tot – Beerdigung in Paraguay". lvz.de.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Turner, Amanda (27 August 2015). "Five-Time Olympic Medalist Erika Zuchold Dies at 68". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Poe, Debbie. "Gymn Forum: Innovators in Gymnastics". Gymn Forum.
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