In 1972, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the USSR, the title of Honored Master of Sports was awarded to athletes from nine socialist countries. One from each. The then friendly Czechoslovakia was represented in this list by the Olympic figure skating champion of Sapporo Ondrej Nepela. When, a few years later, he arrived in Leningrad as part of the Ice Capades ice troupe, the organizers of the tour clutched their heads. They did not know whether it was necessary to represent the star of the American troupe as the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR after he paraded around the city of Lenin with painted lips in a very specific outfit.
Nepela was lucky with the coach. From the first steps on the ice to victories at the World and European Championships, as well as the 1972 Olympics, it was held by Hilda Mudra. Already at the age of 13 (according to the then rules, this was allowed), the Czechoslovakian figure skater participated in the Olympics in Innsbruck, where he took 22nd place.
Nepela was a true all-rounder. He perfectly performed the obligatory figures that were then part of the competition program, and owned a rich arsenal of triple jumps. In combination with brilliant execution of rotations and steps, as well as amazing stability, this was enough for a successful performance in a free program. After the 1968 Olympics, where the Czechoslovak figure skater took eighth place, the era of Nepela began in figure skating. br>
In the next Olympic cycle, he invariably became the European champion and won the 1971 World Championship. The pinnacle of his career was the victory at the Olympics in Sapporo. After that, Nepela stayed in the amateurs for another season to compete at the 1973 World Cup in Bratislava. And then he signed with the Ice Capades. This radically changed Ondrey's life.
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«We were friends with Nepela,» said Vladimir Kurenbin, the first international master of sports in the USSR, who began figure skating in Prague (his father served as a military attaché there). ). — We became close when we lost to him at the Prague Skates tournament. I was 17 then, and he was 13. Nepela was a very interesting person. Being already a famous figure skater, he graduated from the law faculty of the university. He knew five languages, including Russian».
According to Kurenbin, his friend's worldview was influenced by the fact that in Ice Capades almost all male soloists adhered to non-traditional sexual orientation And they considered the views of a new star from the then socialist Czechoslovakia to be wrong.
Another version was presented in his autobiographical book by the famous Canadian figure skater, bronze medalist of the 1976 Olympics Toller Cranston. He was remembered by fans of figure skating for his artistry, he combined victories on ice with painting. And he loved men. In a book published in 1997, Cranston frankly described the connection with Nepela and claimed that he fell head over heels in love with him.
By then, Nepela had died of AIDS at the age of 38. He never returned to his native Czechoslovakia. He worked as a coach in Germany and even managed to prepare the European champion Claudia Leistner. At first, in the then socialist country, they preferred not to advertise the diagnosis that claimed the life of the Olympic champion.
In independent Slovakia, he was recognized as the best athlete of the century. Since 1993, the Ondrej Nepela Memorial has been held in Bratislava. The name of the Olympic champion is the largest sports palace, where the Slovan club played its games in the KHL. He was represented at Nepela figure skating competitions. . He, along with Cranston, brought men's figure skating to a new level of artistry in the mid-70s. Tatyana Tarasova admired the skill of the Olympic champion. In 1987, Curry was diagnosed with HIV. He died seven years later at the age of 44. According to the official version — from a heart attack.
Back in the 70s, non-traditional sexual orientation was considered undesirable even in the Western world. Shortly before the 1976 World Cup, a German tabloid blamed the British Olympic champion for this. A big scandal erupted. Curry himself was forced to hide his personal life, and only shortly before his death did he come out.
In the late 80s and early 90s, AIDS claimed the lives of several famous Canadian figure skaters. The 1978 world junior champion Dennis Coy was ahead of Vladimir Kotin, Brian Boitano and Brian Orser in this tournament. He died in September 1987 of AIDS at the age of 27.
Bronze medalist of the 1982 World Cup, Brian Pocar, after his career ended, became a sought-after director. He was Artistic Director of the 1988 Olympic Closing Ceremony, held in his hometown of Calgary. He died there in 1992 at the age of 32. Scott Hamilton mentioned non-traditional sexual orientation in his autobiography.The bronze medalist of the 1988 Olympics in ice dancing along with Tracy Wilson was Rob McCall. Fate also measured out only 33 years for him. Sean McGill, silver medalist at the 1988 World Cup, has passed away at the age of 30. His mother wrote in an article for a Canadian newspaper: «I hope that Koi and Pocara, McCall and McGill will be remembered for what they did in figure skating, and not because of a fatal diagnosis.»
br>This terrible diagnosis was also given to the American Rudy Galindo, world junior champion in singles and pair skating. In his youth, a unique skater for a long time could not decide on a specialization. At first, he relied on performances in tandem with Christy Yamaguchi, but they could not rise above fifth place at the World Championships. After breaking up with her partner, Yamaguchi won the 1992 Olympics, and Galindo also returned to single skating. He became the oldest US champion in recent years, winning the tournament at the age of 28, and then the bronze medalist of the 1996 World Cup. -out, and the next wrote a frank autobiography. In recent years, medicine has made tremendous progress in the fight against AIDS. The American figure skater has been living with this diagnosis for more than two decades.
Unconventional sexual orientation in figure skating, unfortunately, is becoming traditional in the West. Only skaters with Russian surnames, who now form the backbone of the US team, do not follow fashion. And Nepela was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2019.