Oľga Beständigová

Oľga Beständigová (born 2 May 1979) is a Slovak former competitive pair skater. With her brother, Jozef Beständig, she won nine senior international medals and eight Slovak national titles. They competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics, five World Championships, and seven European Championships, placing as high as 7th (2001 Europeans).

Oľga Beständigová
Beständigová/Beständig at the 2005 European Championships
Born (1979-05-02) 2 May 1979 (age 45)
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height1.54 m (5 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
CountrySlovakia
Turkey (2013–15)
Began skating1984
Retired2015

Beständigová competed with her boyfriend İlhan Mansız for Turkey from 2013 to 2015.

Career

Partnership with Beständig

Beständigová competed for Slovakia with her brother, Jozef Beständig. Their first ISU Championship was the 1997 Europeans in Paris; they finished last (17th). The following season, they placed 12th at the 1998 Europeans in Milan and 18th at the 1998 Worlds in Minneapolis.

Beständigová/Beständig achieved their highest ISU Championship result, 7th, at the 2001 Europeans in Bratislava. They would go on to qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they finished 17th.

Beständigová retired from competition following the 2001–02 season but returned to compete with her brother again for the 2004–05 season. The pair placed 8th at the 2005 European Championships in Turin and 15th at the 2005 World Championships in Moscow. They then ended their partnership.

Later career

Beständigová competed briefly with Vladimir Futáš in 2005 and then decided to perform in ice shows. She participated in the Turkish show Buzda Dans in the winters of 2006–07 and 2007–08. She won the second edition of the show with her partner, İlhan Mansız.[1] In 2010, Beständigová and Mansız began training in an attempt to qualify for the pairs' event at the 2014 Winter Olympics. They initially trained in Oberstdorf and Garmisch with coaches Alexander König and Stefan Zins, and later with Doug Ladret, Don Baldwin, and Tiffany Vise in Scottsdale, Arizona.[1][2] Beständigová/Mansız made their competitive debut together at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, which was also the final qualifying opportunity for the Olympics. It was Beständigová's first international competition in eight years.[3] The pair finished 19th and last in the pairs event,[4] ending their hope of skating at the Olympic Games. Their partnership ended in 2015.[5]

Programs

With Mansız

SeasonShort programFree skating
2013–2014
[2]

With Beständig

SeasonShort programFree skating
2004–2005
[6]
2001–2002
[7]
  • The Fifth Element
    by Éric Serra
2000–2001
[8]
  • Slowly to the Sun
    by This is Kevin
  • The Fifth Element
    by Éric Serra

Results

GP: Champions Series/Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

With Mansız for Turkey

Beständigová and Mansız in 2013
International[9]
Event2013–142014–15
CS Golden Spin of Zagreb9th
CS Ice Challenge8th
Nebelhorn Trophy19th
Ondrej Nepela Memorial5th
Toruń Cup5th

With Futáš for Slovakia

International[10]
Event2005–06
Karl Schäfer Memorial11th

With Beständig for Slovakia

International[11]
Event95–9696–9797–9898–9999–0000–0101–0204–05
Olympics17th
Worlds18th17th18th22nd15th
Europeans17th12th10th12th7th13th8th
GP Skate America8th
GP Sparkassen9th
GP Trophée Lalique7th
Czech Skate4th
Golden Spin2nd2nd6th
Karl Schäfer10th3rd
Nebelhorn Trophy8th9th
Ondrej Nepela4th2nd2nd1st
Skate Israel3rd3rd
Tallinn Cup3rd
Grand Prize SNP3rd J.
National[11]
Slovak Champ.1st1st1st1st1st1st1st1st
J. = Junior level

References