Tuğba Karademir (born on 17 March 1985) is a Turkish former competitive figure skater. She won silver medals at the 2008 International Challenge Cup and 2008 Ondrej Nepela Memorial. She qualified to the free skate at two Winter Olympics ( 2006 Turin and 2010 Vancouver), two World Championships ( 2006 Calgary, 2009 Los Angeles), and seven European Championships (2004–2010). She served as the flag-bearer for Turkey at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Personal life

Karademir was born on 17 March 1985 in

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, Turkey. In Turkey, her father, Tayfun, was a restaurateur and her mother, Sabite, worked in the aerospace industry. Upon relocating to

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, they initially took on extra jobs to pay for their daughter's training. While in Barrie, she was enrolled at a local public school, Allandale Heights. She speaks Turkish and English fluently. Tugba married on 14 August 2021.

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

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. Turkey had only one ice rink then, and no professional skating coaches. In 1996 her parents decided to move the family to

, where she could train seriously. She began training with Robert Tebby at the Mariposa School of Skating. At the 2006 European 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 A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

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 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 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. At the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

she received a total score of 129.54, with 50.74 in the short program and 78.80 in the free skate.

Programs

Competitive highlights

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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 ...

2001–02 to 2009–10

1994–95 to 2000–01

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karademir, Tugba 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Ankara Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Turkish female single skaters Olympic figure skaters of Turkey Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2007 Winter Universiade Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor athletes York University alumni Competitors at the 2009 Winter Universiade 20th-century Turkish sportswomen 21st-century Turkish sportswomen