View source for Erika Zuchold

{{short description|German gymnast}}
{{Infobox gymnast
| name = Erika Zuchold
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0422-0012, Erika Zuchold.jpg
| image_size = 200
| caption = Zuchold in 1972
| fullname = 
| altname = 
| nickname = 
| country = {{GDR}}
| formercountry = 
| birth_date = {{birth-date|19 March 1947}}
| birth_place = [[Lucka]], [[Soviet occupation zone of Germany|Soviet occupation zone]], [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]]
| hometown = 
| residence = 
| death_date = {{death-date and age|22 August 2015|19 March 1947}}
| death_place = [[Asunción]], Paraguay
| height = 
| discipline = WAG
| level = 
| natlteam = 
| club = 
| gym = 
| collegeteam = 
| headcoach = 
| assistcoach = 
| formercoach = 
| choreographer = 
| music = 
| eponymousskills = 
| retired = 1972
| show-medals=true
| medaltemplates = <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|Vault]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics|Team]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics|Vault]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics|Uneven Bars]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]] | [[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1970 Ljubljana]] | Vault }}
{{MedalGold | [[1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1970 Ljubljana]] | Balance Beam }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]] | Vault }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1970 Ljubljana]] | Team }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1970 Ljubljana]] | All-around }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|European Championships]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1967 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1967 Amsterdam]] | Vault }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1969 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1969 Landskrona]] | Vault }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1969 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1969 Landskrona]] | All-Around }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1971 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1971 Minsk]] | All-Around }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1971 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1971 Minsk]] | Vault }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1971 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1971 Minsk]] | Balance Beam }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1971 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1971 Minsk]] | Floor Exercise }}
}}

'''Erika Zuchold''' (''née'' '''Barth'''; 19 March 1947 – 22 August 2015) was an [[East Germany|East German]] [[gymnastics|gymnast]] who competed at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid-1960s to early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lvz.de/Sport/Regionalsport/Leipziger-Turnerin-Erika-Zuchold-ist-tot-Beerdigung-in-Paraguay |title=Leipziger Turnerin Erika Zuchold ist tot – Beerdigung in Paraguay |author=LVZ-Online |work=lvz.de |access-date=2015-08-28 |archive-date=2015-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902200513/http://www.lvz.de/Sport/Regionalsport/Leipziger-Turnerin-Erika-Zuchold-ist-tot-Beerdigung-in-Paraguay |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ig">{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Amanda |title=Five-Time Olympic Medalist Erika Zuchold Dies at 68 |url=http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4359:five-time-olympic-medalist-erika-zuchold-dies-at-68&catid=2:news&Itemid=166 |access-date=28 August 2015 |work=[[International Gymnast Magazine]] |date=27 August 2015}}</ref>

She and [[Karin Janz]] were the two most significant (in terms of medals won at major championships) female German gymnasts of the era, leading the East German team to a bronze medal at the [[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Olympics]] and a silver medal at the [[Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Olympics]].

The highlight of Zuchold's career came at the [[1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|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.<ref name="ig" />

Zuchold is credited as being the first woman to perform a back handspring on balance beam in World or Olympic competition (at the [[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 World Championships]]), as well as one of the first two women, along with [[Věra Čáslavská]] at the 1968 Olympics, to complete a front handspring on balance beam.<ref>{{cite web |last=Poe |first=Debbie |url=http://www.gymn-forum.net/innovators.html |title=Gymn Forum: Innovators in Gymnastics |publisher=Gymn Forum}}</ref> She also had a transition element named after her on uneven bars.<ref name="ig" />

In her post-gymnastics career, she was a [[trapeze]] artist, a curator, an educator, and an abstract painter. In 2005, she was inducted into the [[International Gymnastics Hall of Fame]].<ref name="ig" />

She was married to the cyclist [[Dieter Zuchold]] (1937–2014).<ref name="ig" />

==See also==

* [[List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|www.erika-zuchold.de}} {{in lang|de|en}}
* {{IGHOF|2005_Erika_Zuchold}}
* {{FIG}}
* {{Olympics.com}}
* {{Olympedia}}

{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsWomenVault}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsWomenBalanceBeam}}
{{International Gymnastics Hall of Fame members}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuchold, Erika}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lucka]]
[[Category:German female artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts for East Germany]]
[[Category:East German female artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1968 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:World champion gymnasts]]
[[Category:Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]]
[[Category:Gymnasts from Thuringia]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold]]
[[Category:German emigrants to Paraguay]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Bezirk Gera]]