Karel Zelenka (born March 31, 1983) is a Czech-Italian former competitive figure skater. He is a five-time (2003–2007) Italian national champion and competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He qualified to the free skate at eleven ISU Championships – three World, three World Junior, and five European Championships – and finished in the top ten twice.
| Karel Zelenka | |
|---|---|
 Zelenka in 2007 | |
| Born | March 31, 1983 Louny, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country | Italy |
| Coach | Karel Zelenka Sr., Mirco Botta, Edoardo De Bernardis |
| Skating club | Agora Skating Team |
| Began skating | 1988 |
| Retired | 2010 |
Personal life
editZelenka was born in 1983 in Louny, Czechoslovakia.[1] His father is a figure skating coach.[2] The family moved to Italy when the younger Zelenka was six years old.[2] He received Italian citizenship in January 2006.[3]
Career
editZelenka debuted on the ISU Junior Series (ISU Junior Grand Prix) in 1997. He won the Italian junior title in the 1998–99 season and was sent to his first ISU Championship – 1999 Junior Worlds in Zagreb, Croatia, where he finished 20th after qualifying to the final segment.
Zelenka placed 19th at the 2000 Junior Worlds in Oberstdorf, Germany, and 8th at the 2001 Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria. In October 2001, he won the silver medal at his JGP assignment in Poland.
Zelenka won the first of his five consecutive senior national titles in the 2002–03 season. He reached the free skate at the 2003 European Championships in Malmö but was eliminated after the short program at the 2003 World Championships in Washington, D.C.
Zelenka competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin; he placed 25th in the short program and missed qualifying to the free skate by one spot. He achieved his career-best ISU Championship placement, 7th, at the 2007 European Championships in Warsaw.
He trained in Milan, Italy; Oberstdorf, Germany; and Switzerland.[4][5][6]
Programs
edit| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 [1] |
|
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| 2008–09 [7] |
|
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| 2007–08 [8] |
|
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| 2006–07 [9] |
|
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| 2005–06 [3] |
|
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| 2004–05 [10] |
|
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| 2003–04 [11] |
|
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| 2002–03 [12] |
|
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| 2000–01 [13] |
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Competitive highlights
editGP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| International[14] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 98–99 | 99–00 | 00–01 | 01–02 | 02–03 | 03–04 | 04–05 | 05–06 | 06–07 | 07–08 | 08–09 | 09–10 |
| Olympics | 25th | |||||||||||
| Worlds | 25th | 20th | 25th | 17th | 16th | |||||||
| Europeans | 19th | 16th | 19th | 7th | 15th | 23rd | ||||||
| GP Cup of China | 6th | |||||||||||
| GP Skate America | 10th | 12th | ||||||||||
| GP Skate Canada | 10th | |||||||||||
| Finlandia Trophy | 7th | 16th | ||||||||||
| Golden Spin | 10th | 4th | 6th | |||||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 5th | |||||||||||
| Nepela Memorial | 3rd | |||||||||||
| NRW Trophy | 13th | |||||||||||
| Schäfer Memorial | 4th | |||||||||||
| Triglav Trophy | 4th | |||||||||||
| International: Junior[14] | ||||||||||||
| Junior Worlds | 20th | 19th | 8th | |||||||||
| JGP Germany | 12th | 5th | ||||||||||
| JGP Italy | 6th | |||||||||||
| JGP Norway | 15th | 8th | ||||||||||
| JGP Poland | 2nd | |||||||||||
| JGP Slovakia | 14th | |||||||||||
| JGP Slovenia | 10th | |||||||||||
| National[14] | ||||||||||||
| Italian Champ. | 1st J | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | WD | 3rd |
| J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Karel ZELENKA: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011.
- ^ a b Mittan, Barry (2 February 2006). "Italy's Zelenka Aims for Olympics". SkateToday.
- ^ a b "Karel ZELENKA: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Interview with Karel Zelenka". figureskating-online. 10 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Interview with Karel Zelenka, July 2008 in Oberstdorf". figureskating-online. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel Zelenka: "my life without skates? Impossible"". ArtOnIce.it. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 June 2004.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 October 2003.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 April 2001.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c "Competition Results: Karel ZELENKA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
External links
edit