The winner of the 1975 European Men's Ice Skating Championship, Soviet Vladimir Kovalyov, has won the men's section of this year's Nouvelles de Moscou contest for figure skating.

He won the title from two fellow Soviet skaters in Moscow recently. His leadership in the section was unchallenged and his win further consolidated his position as the Soviet Union's leading male skater.

Kovalyov is twenty two years of age and is a student at Moscow's Physical Culture Institute.

He and many of the other Soviet contestants in the competition showed the potential which is available to selectors of the Soviet team for the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck early next year.

Skaters from sixteen countries throughout the world took part in this year's Moscow competition. It is the largest number of entries the contest has attracted since it was initiated in 1968. It is now a permanent fixture on the international sports calendar.

The contest was divided in to four sections....Women's and Men's singles, Pairs and Ice dancing. Soviet skaters took first place in all four sections.

SYNOPSIS: A twenty-two-year-old Soviet physical culture student, Vladimir Kovalyov, has won this Men's section of this year's Nouvelles de Moscou figure skating contest.

Kovalyov also won this year's European championship and his leadership in the Moscow competition was unchallenged. He beat two fellow Soviet skaters to take the title. He showed some interesting free-style compositions and consolidated his position as the country's leading male skater. Kovalyov and the other Soviet skaters showed the talent the selectors would have to call on when they choose the team for the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck early next year.

The competitions gave the audience a chance to see some of the world's top ice skaters in action. Skaters from sixteen countries throughout the world took part. It's the tenth time the competitions have been held since they were initiated in 1968.

The Moscow contest is gaining popularity rapidly and is now established as one of the permanent events on the international sports calendar. This year, competitors came from Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and the United States of America.