Bernard Ford

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Bernard Ford figure skating
Bernard Ford and Diane Towler, 1966
nation United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
birthday September 27, 1947
place of birth London
Career
discipline Ice dance
Partner Diane Towler
status resigned
Medal table
World Cup medals 4 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
EM medals 4 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
ISU World figure skating championships
gold Davos 1966 Ice dance
gold Vienna 1967 Ice dance
gold Geneva 1968 Ice dance
gold Colorado Springs 1969 Ice dance
ISU European figure skating championships
gold Bratislava 1966 Ice dance
gold Ljubljana 1967 Ice dance
gold Västerås 1968 Ice dance
gold Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1969 Ice dance
 

Bernard Ford (born September 27, 1947 in London ) is a former British figure skater who started in ice dancing .

His ice dance partner was Diane Towler . The couple, who were trained by Gladys Hogg , became European champions for the first time in Bratislava in 1966 and world champions for the first time in Davos . In 1967 they defended these titles at the European Championships in Ljubljana and the World Championships in Vienna . Also in 1968 they were unbeatable and became European champions in Västerås and world champions in Geneva . In 1969 they won their fourth and last European title at the European Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and their fourth and final world championship title at the World Championships in Colorado Springs . At the World Cup, they relegated the future record world champions Lyudmila Pachomowa and Alexander Gorshkov from the Soviet Union unanimously to second place. After that, Ford and Towler ended their amateur careers and appeared in ice revues.

The four-time British champions took part in the demonstration competitions in ice dancing at the Winter Olympics in 1968. Ice dancing did not become Olympic until 1976.

With four World Cup titles, Bernard Ford and Diane Towler joined the ranks of successful British ice dancers. Like them, Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy as well as Courtney Jones had four world titles. Internationally they are only surpassed by Lyudmila Pachomowa and Alexander Gorschkow , who brought it to a total of six titles.

Ford and Towler were awarded the Order of the British Empire . In 1993 they were inducted into the Figure Skating Hall of Fame .

In 1971 Bernard Ford emigrated to Canada . There he worked as an ice dance trainer and ice dance choreographer. His students included Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall . Furthermore, Ford assisted the Technical Ice Dance Committee of the ISU .

Ford and Towler 1966 in Karl-Marx-Stadt

Results

Ice dance

(with Diane Towler )

Competition / year 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
World championships 13. 4th 1. 1. 1. 1.
European championships 4th 1. 1. 1. 1.
British Championships 3. 1. 1. 1. 1.
Bernard Ford and Diane Towler with Emmerich Danzer (center) in Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1966

Web links

Commons : Bernard Ford  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Peter Matthews & Ian Buchanan: All-Time Greats of British and Irish Sport. Enfield 1995, ISBN 0-85112-678-2