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
Height	1.54 m (5 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Slovakia Turkey (2013–15)
Began skating	1984
Retired	2015

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

Season	Short program	Free skating
2013–2014 [2]	To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra	The Last Samurai by Hans Zimmer

With Beständig

Season	Short program	Free skating
2004–2005 [6]	Christmas in Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra	The Fifth Element by Éric Serra
2001–2002 [7]	Music by Michael Jackson	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]
Event	2013–14	2014–15
CS Golden Spin of Zagreb		9th
CS Ice Challenge		8th
Nebelhorn Trophy	19th
Ondrej Nepela Memorial	5th
Toruń Cup		5th

With Futáš for Slovakia

International[10]
Event	2005–06
Karl Schäfer Memorial	11th

With Beständig for Slovakia

International[11]
Event	95–96	96–97	97–98	98–99	99–00	00–01	01–02	04–05
Olympics							17th
Worlds			18th	17th	18th	22nd		15th
Europeans		17th	12th	10th	12th	7th	13th	8th
GP Skate America			8th
GP Sparkassen						9th
GP Trophée Lalique				7th
Czech Skate			4th
Golden Spin				2nd	2nd		6th
Karl Schäfer			10th	3rd
Nebelhorn Trophy				8th	9th
Ondrej Nepela			4th	2nd	2nd		1st
Skate Israel				3rd	3rd
Tallinn Cup				3rd
Grand Prize SNP		3rd J.
National[11]
Slovak Champ.	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
J. = Junior level

References

1. Bőd, Titanilla (9 October 2011). "Olga Beständigová and Ilhan Mansiz - a crazy dream about Sochi, Part 1". Absolute Skating.; "Part 2".; "Part 3".
2. "Olga BESTANDIGOVA / Ilhan MANSIZ: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.
3. Bőd, Titanilla (4 October 2013). "Returning guests and Olympic dreams in Oberstdorf". Absolute Skating.
4. 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy pairs result
5. Gressner, Igor (1 November 2015). "Každá telenovela sa raz skončí..." [Every telenovela eventually comes to an end]. Denník Šport (in Slovak). aktuality.sk.
6. "Olga BESTANDIGOVA / Jozef BESTANDIG: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005.
7. "Olga BESTANDIGOVA / Jozef BESTANDIG: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002.
8. "Olga BESTANDIGOVA / Jozef BESTANDIG: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2001.
9. "Competition Results: Olga BESTANDIGOVA / Ilhan MANSIZ". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016.
10. "Olga BESTANDIGOVA / Vladimir FUTAS: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
11. "BESTANDIGOVA Olga / BESTANDIG Jozef SVK Slovakia". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016.

External links

• Olga Bestandigova / Jozef Bestandig at the International Skating Union
• Olga Bestandigova / Vladimir Futas at the International Skating Union
• Olga Bestandigova / Ilhan Mansiz at the International Skating Union