# 1978 World Figure Skating Championships

The 1978 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from March 7 to 12. 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 competition.

## Medal tables
### Medalists

| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's singles | Charles Tickner | Jan Hoffmann | Robin Cousins |
| Ladies' singles | Anett Pötzsch | Linda Fratianne | Susanna Driano |
| Pair skating | Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev | Manuela Mager / Uwe Bewersdorf | Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner |
| Ice dancing | Natalia Linichuk / Gennadi Karponosov | Irina Moiseeva / Andrei Minenkov | Krisztina Regőczy / András Sallay |

### Medals by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |

## Results
### Men

| Rank | Name | Nation | Age | CP | CP | SP | SP | FP | FP | Points | Places |
| 1 | Charles Tickner | United States | 24 | 3 | 42.56 | 3 | 41.16 | 2 | 103.60 | 187.32 | 17 |
| 2 | Jan Hoffmann | East Germany | 22 | 2 | 43.00 | 1 | 41.56 | 3 | 102.30 | 186.86 | 18 |
| 3 | Robin Cousins | United Kingdom | 20 | 4 | 39.80 | 2 | 41.72 | 1 | 105.10 | 186.62 | 22 |
| 4 | Vladimir Kovalev | Soviet Union | 25 | 1 | 43.76 | 7 | 39.80 | 6 | 99.00 | 182.56 | 40 |
| 5 | Igor Bobrin | Soviet Union | 24 | 6 | 38.42 | 5 | 40.04 | 5 | 101.00 | 179.44 | 47 |
| 6 | David Santee | United States | 20 | 5 | 39.20 | 4 | 40.40 | 8 | 98.30 | 177.90 | 57 |
| 7 | Fumio Igarashi | Japan | 19 | 8 | 37.04 | 6 | 39.08 | 4 | 101.00 | 177.12 | 56 |
| 8 | Mitsuru Matsumura | Japan | 20 | 9 | 36.08 | 8 | 39.08 | 11 | 95.20 | 170.36 | 83 |
| 9 | Mario Liebers | East Germany | 18 | 7 | 37.32 | 11 | 38.24 | 12 | 93.00 | 168.56 | 86 |
| 10 | Brian Pockar | Canada | 18 | 12 | 34.44 | 10 | 38.44 | 9 | 97.10 | 169.98 | 86 |
| 11 | Scott Hamilton | United States | 19 | 11 | 35.28 | 9 | 38.72 | 10 | 94.80 | 168.80 | 92 |
| 12 | Vern Taylor | Canada | | 15 | 30.56 | 12 | | 7 | | 166.50 | 105 |
| 13 | Konstantin Kokora | Soviet Union | 20 | 10 | 36.04 | 13 | | 13 | | 163.92 | 110 |
| 14 | Rudi Cerne | West Germany | 19 | 13 | 33.84 | 14 | | 14 | | 159.16 | 127 |
| 15 | Gilles Beyer | France | | 14 | 33.08 | 15 | | 15 | | 154.84 | 134 |
| 16 | Brian Meek | Australia | | 16 | 29.92 | 16 | | 16 | | 133.28 | 144 |
| 17 | Han Soo-bong | South Korea | | 17 | 27.68 | 17 | | 17 | | 119.80 | 153 |
Referee:
* Sonia Bianchetti Italy
Assistant Referee:
* Benjamin T. Wright United Kingdom
Judges:
* Gerhard Frey West Germany
* Oskar Urban Czechoslovakia
* Ludwig Gassner Austria
* Ramona McIntyre United States
* Pamela Peat United Kingdom
* Walburga Grimm East Germany
* Kinuko Ueno Japan
* Dorothy MacLeod Canada
* Monique Georgelin France
Substitute judge:
* Ferenc Kertész Hungary

### Ladies

| Rank | Name | Nation | CP | SP | FP | Placings |
| 1 | Anett Pötzsch | East Germany | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Linda Fratianne | United States | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| 3 | Susanna Driano | Italy | 4 | 6 | 6 | 33 |
| 4 | Dagmar Lurz | West Germany | 2 | 10 | 7 | 45 |
| 5 | Denise Biellmann | Switzerland | 16 | 3 | 2 | 52 |
| 6 | Elena Vodorezova | Soviet Union | 13 | 4 | 5 | 50 |
| 7 | Lisa-Marie Allen | United States | 14 | 5 | 4 | 48 |
| 8 | Emi Watanabe | Japan | 6 | 13 | 8 | 77 |
| 9 | Priscilla Hill | United States | 5 | 8 | 10 | 78 |
| 10 | Carola Weißenberg | East Germany | 9 | 7 | 9 | 87 |
| 11 | Karena Richardson | United Kingdom | 12 | 11 | 11 | 103 |
| 12 | Heather Kemkaran | Canada | 10 | 9 | 14 | 118 |
| 13 | Claudia Kristofics-Binder | Austria | 11 | 12 | 15 | 116 |
| 14 | Kristiina Wegelius | Finland | 7 | 16 | 13 | 119 |
| 15 | Natalia Strelkova | Soviet Union | 15 | 15 | 12 | 132 |
| 16 | Danielle Rieder | Switzerland | 8 | 14 | 18 | 141 |
| 17 | Cathie MacFarlane | Canada | 17 | 17 | 20 | 159 |
| 18 | Astrid Jansen in de Wal | Netherlands | 22 | 19 | 16 | 165 |
| 19 | Karin Riediger | West Germany | 18 | 20 | 19 | 169 |
| 20 | Bodil Olsson | Sweden | 21 | 18 | 17 | 171 |
| 21 | Robyn Burley | Australia | 20 | 21 | 21 | 190 |
| 22 | Choo Young-soon | South Korea | 19 | 22 | 22 | 198 |
| 23 | Katie Symmonds | New Zealand | 23 | 23 | 23 | 206 |
Referee:
* Elemér Terták Hungary
Assistant Referee:
* David Dore Canada
Judges:
* Walter Hüttner Austria
* Pamela Davis United Kingdom
* Margaret Berezowski Canada
* Goro Ishimaru Japan
* Ingrid Linke East Germany
* Markus Germann Switzerland
* Eva von Gamm West Germany
* Giorgio Siniscalco Italy
* E. Newbold Black IV United States
Substitute judge:
* Leena Vainio Finland

### Pairs

| Rank | Name | Nation | SP | FP | Placings |
| 1 | Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Manuela Mager / Uwe Bewersdorf | East Germany | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| 3 | Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner | United States | 4 | 3 | 28 |
| 4 | Marina Cherkasova / Sergei Shakhrai | Soviet Union | 3 | 4 | 39 |
| 5 | Sabine Baeß / Tassilo Thierbach | East Germany | 5 | 5 | 46 |
| 6 | Ingrid Spieglová / Alan Spiegl | Czechoslovakia | 6 | 6 | 50 |
| 7 | Marina Pestova / Stanislav Leonovich | Soviet Union | 7 | 7 | 65 |
| 8 | Susanne Scheibe / Andreas Nischwitz | West Germany | 8 | 8 | 71 |
| 9 | Sheryl Franks / Michael Botticelli | United States | 9 | 9 | 83 |
| 10 | Gail Hamula / Frank Sweiding | United States | 10 | 10 | 85 |
| 11 | Lee-Ann Jackson / Paul Mills | Canada | 13 | 11 | 105 |
| 12 | Sabine Fuchs / Xavier Videau | France | 12 | 12 | 108 |
| 13 | Gabrielle Beck / Jochen Stahl | West Germany | 14 | 13 | 113 |
| 14 | Elizabeth Cain / Peter Cain | Australia | 16 | 14 | 127 |
| 15 | Kyoko Hagiwara / Sumio Murata | Japan | 15 | 15 | 131 |
| WD | Sherri Baier / Robin Cowan | Canada | 11 | | |
Referee:
* Oskar Madl Austria
Assistant Referee:
* Donald H. Gilchrist Canada
Judges:
* Eva von Gamm West Germany
* Walburga Grimm East Germany
* Goro Ishimaru Japan
* Leena Vainio Finland
* Monique Georgelin France
* Norris Bowden Canada
* Elaine DeMore United States
* Oskar Urban Czechoslovakia
* Giorgio Siniscalco Italy
Substitute judge:
* Pamela Davis United Kingdom

### Ice dancing

| Rank | Name | Nation | CD | FD | Placings |
| 1 | Natalia Linichuk / Gennadi Karponosov | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | Irina Moiseeva / Andrei Minenkov | Soviet Union | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 3 | Krisztina Regőczy / András Sallay | Hungary | 3 | 3 | 29 |
| 4 | Janet Thompson / Warren Maxwell | United Kingdom | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| 5 | Liliana Řeháková / Stanislav Drastich | Czechoslovakia | 5 | 6 | 49 |
| 6 | Lorna Wighton / John Dowding | Canada | 6 | 5 | 48 |
| 7 | Marina Zueva / Andrei Vitman | Soviet Union | 7 | 7 | 69 |
| 8 | Carol Fox / Richard Dalley | United States | 8 | 8 | 69 |
| 9 | Stacey Smith / John Summers | United States | 9 | 9 | 82 |
| 10 | Susi Handschmann / Peter Handschmann | Austria | 11 | 10 | 93 |
| 11 | Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean | United Kingdom | 10 | 11 | 92 |
| 12 | Patricia Fletcher / Michael de la Penotiere | Canada | 12 | 12 | 113 |
| 13 | Stefania Bertele / Walter Cecconi | Italy | 13 | 13 | 114 |
| 14 | Henriette Fröschl / Christian Steiner | West Germany | 14 | 14 | 124 |
| 15 | Muriel Boucher / Yves Malatier | France | 15 | 15 | 135 |
| 16 | Michiko Abe / Nozomu Sakai | Japan | 16 | 16 | 144 |
Referee:
* George J. Blundun Canada
Assistant Referee:
* Emil Skákala Czechoslovakia
Judges:
* Lino Clerici Italy
* Nancy Meiss United States
* Gerhard Frey West Germany
* Oskar Urban Czechoslovakia
* Roy Haines Canada
* Ferenc Kertész Hungary
* Lysiane Lauret France
* Roy Mason United Kingdom
* Ludwig Gassner Austria
Substitute judge:
* Inkeri Soininen Finland