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Sabina Wojtala (Polish pronunciation: ; born 12 September 1981) is a Polish former competitive
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 won eight senior international medals and six Polish national titles. She reached the free skate at nine ISU Championships – four Europeans, two Worlds, and three Junior Worlds.


Personal life

Sabina Wojtala was born on 12 September 1981 in
Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...
, Poland. She attended Górnośląska Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna.


Career

Wojtala started skating in 1986. She was coached by Iwona Mydlarz-Chruścińska in
Oświęcim Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rive ...
and represented Dwory Unia SA. At the 1995 World Junior Championships in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, Wojtala advanced out of her qualifying group but was eliminated after the short program. At the Polish Championships, she won the bronze medal in senior
pairs Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...
with Janusz Komendera but decided to focus on her single skating career. In the 1995–96 season, she began appearing on the senior international level but continued competing also on the junior level. She reached the free skate and finished 23rd overall at the 1996 World Junior Championships in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, Australia. In the 1996–97 season, Wojtala won her first senior international medal – bronze at the Golden Spin of Zagreb. She progressed out of her qualifying group but missed the cut-off for the free skate at the 1997 World Junior Championships in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea. In 1997–98, Wojtala competed only as a senior. She won gold at the
Ondrej Nepela Memorial The Nepela Memorial ( sk, Memoriál Ondreja Nepelu), formerly known as the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in 2013–15 & 2017 and the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition. Named after Figure skating at t ...
and silver at the Polish Championships. In January 1998, she was sent to her first
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, ...
; she ranked 17th in the short, 16th in the free, and 16th overall at the event in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, Italy. Wojtala began the 1998–99 season on the junior level. She appeared at two
ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
events, winning bronze in Bulgaria. In November 1998, she finished a career-best fifth at the World Junior Championships in
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
, Croatia, having placed second in her qualifying group, ninth in the short, and fifth in the free. She then won the first of her six senior national titles. In January 1999, she achieved another career-best result, finishing tenth 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, ...
in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
(third in her qualifying group, 12th in the short, and tenth in the free). In March, she reached the free skate at her first
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. Ranked 11th in qualifying, 23rd in the short, and 19th in the free, she finished 22nd overall at Worlds in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland. Wojtala's best World Championship result came at the 2000 Worlds in
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
. She placed ninth in her qualifying group, ninth in the short, 15th in the free, and 13th overall in France. The following season, she received her first
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
invitations; she placed seventh at both the
2000 Skate America The 2000 Skate America was the first event of six in the 2000–01 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 26–29. M ...
and 2000 Sparkassen Cup on Ice. 2002–03 was Wojtala's final season of international competition. She placed 18th at the 2003 European Championships in
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
, Sweden, but did not appear at the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
. She made a brief competitive return in the 2005–06, winning the national title, but has not competed since. She currently works as a coach.


Programs


Competitive highlights

''GP:
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
; JGP:
Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
''


References


External links

* *
Sabina Wojtala
at Tracings.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Wojtala, Sabina 1981 births Living people Polish female single skaters Universiade medalists in figure skating Sportspeople from Bielsko-Biała Universiade silver medalists for Poland Competitors at the 2001 Winter Universiade