Tuğba Karademir (born on March 17, 1985 in Ankara, Turkey), is a Turkish figure skater. She was the flag-bearer for Turkey at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where she placed 21st.
Career
Karademir started skating at the age of 5, with her kindergarten class, right after the first ice rink opened in Turkey in 1990. At eight years old she competed for the first time internationally for Turkey. In 1995, she won a gold medal at a novice competition at the Balkan Games and a silver medal in the Netherlands.
Turkey had only one ice rink then, and no professional skating coaches. In 1996 her parents decided to move the family to Canada, where she could train seriously. She began training with Robert Tebby at the Mariposa School of Skating.
At the 2006 European Figure Skating Championships, Karademir placed 13th. She then went on to become the first figure skater from Turkey to compete in the Olympic Winter games. She was the flag bearer for Turkey during the opening ceremony. She scored a personal best of 44.2 points in the short program. Combined with her 79.44 points in the free program, she placed 21st overall with a total of 123.64 points.
At the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships, Karademir placed 18th with her highest finish to date at that event. In the long program, she finished 16th, giving her the 18th overall finish.
At the 2007 European Figure Skating Championships she achieved a new personal best in her short program and placed 10th overall.
In June 2006, Tuğba Karademir was transferred by the Kocaeli Kağıtspor.[1]
[edit]Competitive highlights
[edit]Post-2003
| Event | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009 | 2009-2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 21st | ||||||
| World Championships | 35th | 27th | 18th | 27th | 27th | 21st | |
| European Championships | 23rd | 19th | 13th | 10th | 11th | 10th | 12th |
| Skate America | 9th | 11th | 12th | ||||
| Skate Canada International | 11th | ||||||
| NHK Trophy | 10th | ||||||
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | 17th | 9th | 5th | 4th | |||
| Ondrej Nepela Memorial | 4th | 2nd | |||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 11th | 14th | |||||
| Winter Universiade | 14th | 11th | |||||
| Karl Schäfer Memorial | 9th | 4th | 9th | 11th |
[edit]Pre-2003
| Event | 1994-1995 | 1995-1996 | 1996-1997 | 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 30th | |||||
| European Championships | 27th | 27th | ||||
| Turkish Championships | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | |||
| Canadian Championships | 5th J. | |||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 11th | |||||
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | 7th | |||||
| Balkan Games | 1st | 2nd | 2nd |
- J = Junior level
