Željka Čižmešija (born 19 October 1970) is a Croatian retired

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. She placed as high as 11th at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

(1987, 1989) and competed at two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

(1988, 1992). She was the first woman to represent Croatia at the Olympics.

Career

Čižmešija began appearing internationally for

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

in the 1980s. She finished 13th at the 1984 World Junior Championships. In 1986, she made her first appearances at senior-level ISU Championships, placing 16th at

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

and 21st at Worlds. The following season, Čižmešija finished 11th at the 1987 European Championships in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

and 16th at the 1987 World Championships in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. She placed 22nd at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Canada. She had another 11th-place finish at the 1989 European Championships in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. On 7 March 1990, at the 1990 World Championships, Čižmešija became the last skater to perform a compulsory figure in international competition ( David Liu having previously become the last male skater to do it). Both she and Liu received certificates for it. In her final season, Čižmešija represented

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Training was difficult due to the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and lack of ice. She placed 25th at the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

, France. She retired from competition at the end of the season.

Personal life

Željka Čižmešija is the sister of

Tomislav Čižmešija Tomislav Čižmešija (born 31 August 1968) is a Croatian retired figure skater who competed internationally for both Croatia and SFR Yugoslavia. He was Croatia's flag bearer in the opening ceremony of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, the ...

, who competed in men's singles for Croatia at the 1992 Olympics.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cizmesija, Zeljka 1970 births Yugoslav female single skaters Croatian female single skaters Figure skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of Yugoslavia Olympic figure skaters of Croatia Living people Sportspeople from Zagreb