1975 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships

1975 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
Location Madrid, Spain
Start date23 November 1975
End date24 November 1975

The VII World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held on 23–24 November 1975 in Madrid, Spain. The competition was originally scheduled to be held 20–23 November. However, after the death of Francisco Franco on 20 November, no events could be held until after his funeral, which was scheduled for 23 November. The competition instead began immediately after his funeral and was extended to the evening of the 24th.

14 countries participated; 11 (all but Israel, New Zealand, and the United States) sent groups, and 37 individuals competed. Great Britain and Switzerland sent gymnasts for the first time. Groups competed with three balls and three ropes. The groups and gymnasts with the top six scores in the qualifying round advanced to the finals.

No Communist countries attended the championships, meaning no gymnasts from any countries that medaled at the 1973 Championships (Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary) were in attendance, and North Korea also did not attend. Finnish gymnasts were originally entered into the competition, but they were told two days beforehand that they could not attend. Denmark declined to send gymnasts for financial reasons.

During the competition, one judge was appointed specifically to watch for acrobatic elements, which were prohibited; many judges had difficulty understanding which elements counted as acrobatic, and some gymnasts had to change their routines before the competition to remove the prohibited elements.

West Germany dominated the competition, winning 9 medals. West German Carmen Rischer won three individual medals, including the all-around, making her Germany's first World champion. Fellow German Christiana Rosenberg won gold in the other two finals. In the hoop final, Midori Koriki was penalized one point because her hoop was weighed and shown to be too light. The crowd booed the result loudly, and other gymnasts brought her to the stage to be cheered for. During that final, another Japanese gymnast, Mitsuru Hiraguchi, won Japan's first World Championships medal, gold, tied with Rischer.