Ladislav Rygl is dead.

Former world champion Ladislav Rygl is dead

The world of Nordic skiing has lost one of its veterans: Ladislav Rygl, the 1970 Nordic Combined World Champion, has died at the age of 77.

13 December 2024

From: sn

The former national hero died on November 30th. Rygl celebrated his greatest sporting success at the 1970 World Championships in the High Tatras in what was then Czechoslovakia. In front of his home crowd, he secured the gold medal in the normal hill/15-kilometer discipline - a triumph that made him a national sporting legend overnight.

In the competition, Rygl, aged just 23, relegated the Soviet athletes Nikolai Nogovitsyn and Vyacheslav Dryagin to second and third place - probably the biggest surprise at this World Championship. His extraordinary performance did not go unnoticed: in the same year he was named "Sportsman of the Year" in Czechoslovakia.

A formative career

Rygl, born in 1946 in Czechoslovakia, was one of the dominant athletes of his time. After his success at the 1970 World Championships, he attracted attention primarily as the Czech national coach and as co-founder of the sports center in Vrchlabí, which is still active today.

With his success, he inspired a new generation of winter sports athletes and helped to further focus on Nordic combined as the supreme discipline of Nordic skiing. His elegance on the ski jump and his endurance on the cross-country track made him a role model for many young talents.

With his death, Ladislav Rygl not only leaves a gap in sporting history, but also in the hearts of those who experienced him as a trailblazer and pioneer. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and all those who were inspired by his sporting legacy.