Erika Zuchold, the first woman in the world with the flic flac on beam passed away suddenly

Erika ZUCHOLD
* 19.03.1947
+ 22.08.2015

With great sorrow the worldwide gymnastics world responds to the message from the family circles, that the Olympic silver medalist from 1968 and 1972 (Mexico-City and Munich) and former world champion from 1970, Erika ZUCHOLD from Leipzig (Germany) died on Saturday, August 22, in Paraguay surprisingly at the age of 68 years.
After serious personal misfortunes lately - among other things they had to handle last year the death of her husband and former top-cyclist Dieter - she had decided this year to emigrate and seek new horizons of life. Two months ago, until she left her hometown of Leipzig and settled in the northern Paraguay province of Alto where already her mother and her sister had settled ...

... in 2015 spring as an optimistic artist Erika Zuchold opened her last vernissage in Germany

As the first woman in the world dared Erika Zuchold-Barth before the Olympic Games in Tokyo (1964) in its exercise the flic flac on the balance beam. An Achilles tendon injury prevented, however, that her star rose even then.
In the second half of the sixties, then she became a World Gymnastics Star, was beam world champion (Ljubljana 1970) and won Olympic silver (n Mexico-City 1968 and Munich 1972 and had multiple German Champion of the GDR

Later Erika ZUCHOLD studied art teacher celebrated public appearances as a dancer and developed by acclaimed Gym-star a versatile artist, painter and sculptor ...
Since 2005 Erika Zuchold is a "Member of the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame" in Oklahoma City.

Who has experienced Erika 2015 in the spring at the opening of her latest vernissage as agile overall personality and full of dynamism, for him is her sudden and surprising death completely inexplicable ...!
The international gymnastics family has suffered a severe and sad loss!

♦♦ The occasion of its 60^th birthday (2007) GYMmedia looked back on the
>> extraorinarily carreer of the gymnastics star Erika Zuchold
.
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Olympic champion Bart Connor (USA) sums the career of Erika ZUCHOLD together impressively:

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♦♦ CONDOLENCES ...
"All of us at the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame have very fond memories of Ms. Zuchold’s visit and induction into the IGHOF in 2005. We also feel quite fortunate to possess some wonderful works of art that Erika presented to the IGHOF during her visit ten years ago.
> > http://www.ighof.com/honorees/2005_Erika_Zuchold.php
We are proud to have gotten to know this courageous and inspiring woman, and we will keep her dear family in our hearts and praye."
* Olympic Champion Bart Conner
Chairman of the Board
International Gymnastics Hall of Fame (http://www.ighof.com)
Oklahoma City, OK USA
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International Gymnastics Camp and the Klaus family ..
"... would like to join the gymnastics community to extend condolences to Zuchold’s family and friends. The entire gymnastics community worldwide is saddened by the passing of a very special East German gymnast, Erika Zuchold. She competed in European, World and Olympic events from the mid 1960’s to early 1970’s. Notably, Zuchold is credited as being the first woman to compete the flic flac and front handspring on balance beam and has a transition element named in her honor on uneven bars. In 2005, she was inducted into the International Hall of Fame. After her competitive years came to an end, Zuchold was an educator, trapeze artist, a curator, artist, painter and sculptor. Zuchold will be deeply missed!"
* Bruno & Brent KLAUS; Stroudsburg, PA / USA
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