Erika Zuchold

Who is Erika Zuchold?

Erica Zuchold is a former East German gymnast who competed at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

She, along with Karin Janz, was one of the two most significant female German gymnasts of her era, co-leading, with Janz, the East German team to both the Team Bronze at the 1968 Olympics and improving upon that, again with Janz, to win the Team Silver at the 1972 Olympics.

The highlight of her career came at the 1970 World Championships where she placed 2nd in the Individual All-Around behind the Soviet Ludmilla Tourischeva and returned to win Gold on both Vault and Balance Beam in event finals, the latter of which was a fairly controversial win over second-place American Cathy Rigby. Also, the period in-between the 1968 and 1972 Olympics saw Zuchold and Tourischeva being the only two gymnasts to win spots on the Individual All-Around podium at every European and World Championships during that time period.