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Created in 2013, Skate Guard is a blog that focuses on overlooked and underappreciated areas of the history of figure skating, whether that means a topic completely unknown to most readers or a new look at a well-known skater, time period, or event. There's plenty to explore, so pour yourself a cup of coffee and get lost in the fascinating and fabulous history of everyone's favourite winter sport!

Ondrej Nepela

Ondrej Nepela

January 22, 1951-February 2, 1989

 

The son of a driver and a seamstress, Ondrej Nepela was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. He made his international debut at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Austria at the age of thirteen. Coached by Hilda Múdra, he went on to win an incredible eight Czechoslovakian titles, eight medals at the European Championships (five of them gold), five medals at the World Championships (three of them gold) and the gold medal at the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan. He went on to tour with Holiday On Ice and coach in West Germany. He passed away on February 2, 1989 in Mannheim at the age of thirty-eight.

Ondrej's obituary from the "Democrat and Chronicle: "Ondrej Nepela, 38, the 1972 Olympic figure skating champion from Czechoslovakia, died Thursday in a Mannheim, West Germany, hospital after a long illness. The West German Ice Skating Union, which announced his death, did not specify Nepela's illness. He reigned as World Champion from 1971 to 1973 and won five European titles between 1969 and 1973. Nepela then joined the American Holiday on Ice professional show. In 1986, Nepela came to Mannheim and became the coach of West German figure skater Claudia Leistner, who won the European title last month in Birmingham, England."

Ondrej Nepela and Hilda Múdra

Hilda Múdra's memories of Ondrej Nepela from a 2008 interview in "Pravda": "I only found out after his death that he had an illness. Ondrej was the ideal of figure skating, he was amazing, it was a big loss. When he died, I was in Mannheim and learned everything from his friends, he had many friends that I did not know… I had a good relationship with his family. His parents were older, Mrs. Nepela told me: 'There will be a parents' association, you go there.' So as you can see, he was really like my son."

*Source for inclusion: National AIDS Memorial, The Names Project Memorial Quilt

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