1978 World Figure Skating Championships

Annual figure skating competition held in 1978 May 2026 1978 World Figure Skating Championships ISU Championship 7–12 March 1977–78 Ottawa, Canada Ottawa Civic Centre USA Charles Tickner GDR Anett Pötzsch URS Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev URS Natalia Linichuk / Gennadi Karponosov 1977 World Championships 1979 World Championships The 1978 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 7–12 March. At the event, sanctioned by the International Skating Union, medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Vern Taylor of Canada became the first person to land a triple axel (albeit over rotated) in official competition. Medal tables Medalists Men's singles USA Charles Tickner GDR Jan Hoffmann GBR Robin Cousins Ladies' singles GDR Anett Pötzsch USA Linda Fratianne ITA Susanna Driano Pair skating URS Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev GDR Manuela Mager / Uwe Bewersdorf USA Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner Ice dancing URS Natalia Linichuk / Gennadi Karponosov URS Irina Moiseeva / Andrei Minenkov HUN Krisztina Regőczy / András Sallay Medals by country 2 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 Results Men Rank Name Nation Age CP SP FP Points Places 1 Charles Tickner 24 3 42.56 3 41.16 2 103.60 187.32 17 2 Jan Hoffmann 22 2 43.00 1 41.56 3 102.30 186.86 18 3 Robin Cousins 20 4 39.80 2 41.72 1 105.10 186.62 22 4 Vladimir Kovalev 25 1 43.76 7 39.80 6 99.00 182.56 40 5 Igor Bobrin 24 6 38.42 5 40.04 5 101.00 179.44 47 6 David Santee 20 5 39.20 4 40.40 8 98.30 177.90 57 7 Fumio Igarashi 19 8 37.04 6 39.08 4 101.00 177.12 56 8 Mitsuru Matsumura 20 9 36.08 8 39.08 11 95.20 170.36 83 9 Mario Liebers 18 7 37.32 11 38.24 12 93.00 168.56 86 10 Brian Pockar 18 12 34.44 10 38.44 9 97.10 169.98 86 11 Scott Hamilton 19 11 35.28 9 38.72 10 94.80 168.80 92 12 Vern Taylor 15 30.56 12 7 166.50 105 13 Konstantin Kokora 20 10 36.04 13 13 163.92 110 14 Rudi Cerne 19 13 33.84 14 14 159.16 127 15 Gilles Beyer 14 33.08 15 15 154.84 134 16 Brian Meek 16 29.92 16 16 133.28 144 17 Han Soo-bong 17 27.68 17 17 119.80 153 Referee: Sonia Bianchetti Assistant Referee: Benjamin T. Wright Judges: Gerhard Frey Oskar Urban Ludwig Gassner Ramona McIntyre Pamela Peat Walburga Grimm Kinuko Ueno Dorothy MacLeod Monique Georgelin Substitute judge: Ferenc Kertész Ladies Rank Name Nation CP SP FP Placings 1 Anett Pötzsch 1 2 3 11 2 Linda Fratianne 3 1 1 16 3 Susanna Driano 4 6 6 33 4 Dagmar Lurz 2 10 7 45 5 Denise Biellmann 16 3 2 52 6 Elena Vodorezova 13 4 5 50 7 Lisa-Marie Allen 14 5 4 48 8 Emi Watanabe 6 13 8 77 9 Priscilla Hill 5 8 10 78 10 Carola Weißenberg 9 7 9 87 11 Karena Richardson 12 11 11 103 12 Heather Kemkaran 10 9 14 118 13 Claudia Kristofics-Binder 11 12 15 116 14 Kristiina Wegelius 7 16 13 119 15 Natalia Strelkova 15 15 12 132 16 Danielle Rieder 8 14 18 141 17 Cathie MacFarlane 17 17 20 159 18 Astrid Jansen in de Wal 22 19 16 165 19 Karin Riediger 18 20 19 169 20 Bodil Olsson 21 18 17 171 21 Robyn Burley 20 21 21 190 22 Choo Young-soon 19 22 22 198 23 Katie Symmonds 23 23 23 206 Referee: Elemér Terták Assistant Referee: David Dore Judges: Walter Hüttner Pamela Davis Margaret Berezowski Goro Ishimaru Ingrid Linke Markus Germann Eva von Gamm Giorgio Siniscalco E. Newbold Black IV Substitute judge: Leena Vainio Pairs Rank Name Nation SP FP Placings 1 Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev 1 1 9 2 Manuela Mager / Uwe Bewersdorf 2 2 19 3 Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner 4 3 28 4 Marina Cherkasova / Sergei Shakhrai 3 4 39 5 Sabine Baeß / Tassilo Thierbach 5 5 46 6 Ingrid Spieglová / Alan Spiegl 6 6 50 7 Marina Pestova / Stanislav Leonovich 7 7 65 8 Susanne Scheibe / Andreas Nischwitz 8 8 71 9 Sheryl Franks / Michael Botticelli 9 9 83 10 Gail Hamula / Frank Sweiding 10 10 85 11 Lee-Ann Jackson / Paul Mills 13 11 105 12 Sabine Fuchs / Xavier Videau 12 12 108 13 Gabrielle Beck / Jochen Stahl 14 13 113 14 Elizabeth Cain / Peter Cain 16 14 127 15 Kyoko Hagiwara / Sumio Murata 15 15 131 WD Sherri Baier / Robin Cowan 11 Referee: Oskar Madl Assistant Referee: Donald H. Gilchrist Judges: Eva von Gamm Walburga Grimm Goro Ishimaru Leena Vainio Monique Georgelin Norris Bowden Elaine DeMore Oskar Urban Giorgio Siniscalco Substitute judge: Pamela Davis Ice dancing Rank Name Nation CD FD Placings 1 Natalia Linichuk / Gennadi Karponosov 1 1 11 2 Irina Moiseeva / Andrei Minenkov 2 2 16 3 Krisztina Regőczy / András Sallay 3 3 29 4 Janet Thompson / Warren Maxwell 4 4 35 5 Liliana Řeháková / Stanislav Drastich 5 6 49 6 Lorna Wighton / John Dowding 6 5 48 7 Marina Zueva / Andrei Vitman 7 7 69 8 Carol Fox / Richard Dalley 8 8 69 9 Stacey Smith / John Summers 9 9 82 10 Susi Handschmann / Peter Handschmann 11 10 93 11 Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean 10 11 92 12 Patricia Fletcher / Michael de la Penotiere 12 12 113 13 Stefania Bertele / Walter Cecconi 13 13 114 14 Henriette Fröschl / Christian Steiner 14 14 124 15 Muriel Boucher / Yves Malatier 15 15 135 16 Michiko Abe / Nozomu Sakai 16 16 144 Referee: George J. Blundun Assistant Referee: Emil Skákala Judges: Lino Clerici Nancy Meiss Gerhard Frey Oskar Urban Roy Haines Ferenc Kertész Lysiane Lauret Roy Mason Ludwig Gassner Substitute judge: Inkeri Soininen Controversies Soviet judges were banned from officiating at the year's events due to reported bias by the International Skating Union. An editorial in The Globe and Mail suggested that in response to this the Russian ice-dancing team, normally known for "stern purity", performed "x-rated" routines to the consternation of the judges. Female skaters were given warnings regarding modesty requirements of their costumes, forcing modifications. References Nora McCabe Back-slapping may be premature 13 March 1978 The Globe and Mail Toronto, Ontario S 5 387118417 Nora McCabe Charles Tickner wins men's skating title 10 March 1978 The Globe and Mail Toronto, Ontario 29 387121521 Nora McCabe Baffling decision gives Poetzsch women's crown 11 March 1978 The Globe and Mail Toronto, Ontario 51 387163156 Sex on ice 20 March 1978 The Globe and Mail Toronto, Ontario 6 387060536 Nora McCabe Sexy skaters given warning 11 March 1978 The Globe and Mail Toronto, Ontario 2 387125835 Category:World Figure Skating Championships World Figure Skating Championships World Figure Skating Championships World Figure Skating Championships Category:International figure skating competitions hosted by Canada Category:1978 in Canadian sports Category:Sports competitions in Ottawa Category:1970s in Ottawa Category:March 1978 sports events in Canada