IN BRIEF : Czech Skating Medalist Dies at 38

Ondrej Nepela, the 1972 Olympic figure skating champion from Czechoslovakia, has died in a West German hospital after a long illness, the West German Ice Skating Union said today. He was 38.

Nepela died late Thursday in a Mannheim hospital. The federation’s statement did not specify Nepela’s illness.

Nepela became Czechoslovakia’s first Olympic figure skating champion when he won the men’s title at the 1972 Winter Games in Saporro, Japan.

He reigned as world champion from 1971 to 1973 and won five European titles between 1969 and 1973. Nepela then joined the American Holiday on Ice professional show.

In 1986, Nepela came to Mannheim and became the coach of West German figure skater Claudia Leistner, who won the European title last month in Birmingham, England.

Nepela was hospitalized after the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and never returned to the ice.