Zoltán Kelemen (figure skater)

Zoltán Kelemen
Kelemen in 2010.
Personal information
Country represented	Romania
Born	31 July 1986 Miercurea Ciuc, Romania
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 4 ^1⁄2 in)
Coach	Gheorghe Chiper, Linda van Troyen
Former coach	Mária Bogyó Löffler, Cornel Gheorghe
Choreographer	Sandra Schär, Sergiy Kirichenko
Former choreographer	Pasquale Camerlengo, Sorina Mladin
Skating club	SC Miercurea Ciuc
Training locations	Brașov Miercurea Ciuc Flims
Began skating	1991
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	194.08 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy
Short program	68.32 2014 European
Free skate	128.56 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy

Zoltán Kelemen (born 31 July 1986) is a Romanian figure skater. He is an eight-time Romanian national champion. He qualified for the free skate at the 2014 Winter Olympics, the 2014 World Championships, five European Championships, and two World Junior Championships.

Personal life

Kelemen was born on 31 July 1986 in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania.^[1] He is of Hungarian descent.^[2] He lost the sight in his right eye at age seven,^[3] following an accident involving an aerosol can.

Career

Due to his vision impairment, Kelemen fails the yearly physical Romania requires of its athletes, making him ineligible for government funding for his training and coaching. He is required to sign an annual waiver declaring that he is competing "on his own responsibility."^[3]

In the 2004–05 and 2005–06 season, Kelemen competed on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and at the World Junior Championships. In 2007, he won his first senior national title and was given his debut at the European Championships and senior World Championships.

At the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy, Kelemen earned a spot for Romania in the Olympic men's event. He began training in California and qualified for the free skate for the first time in his career at the 2010 European Championships.^[4] He then competed at the 2010 Olympics, placing 29th.^[5]

Kelemen placed a career-best 14th at the 2012 European Championships. In August 2012, he decided to train in Switzerland with Gheorghe Chiper;^[6] he also works in Switzerland as he receives little support from the Romanian skating association.^[7] Kelemen earned another Olympic berth for Romania at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he qualified for the free skate and finished 23rd.

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating
2013–14 [1]	Rich Man's Frug (from Sweet Charity)	Breathe by Audio Machine Life by Audio Machine
2012–13 [8]	Rich Man's Frug (from Sweet Charity)	Italian medley
2011–12 [9]	Dralion (from Cirque du Soleil)	Pearl Harbor by Hans Zimmer
2010–11 [10]	Dralion (from Cirque du Soleil)	Mumbai Theme
2008–10 [11][12]	Amélie by Yann Tiersen Ballade by Emilie Lassaria	Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt, Hans Zimmer
2006–08 [13][14]	Played-A-Life by Safri Duo	The Man in the Iron Mask by Nick Glennie Smith
2004–06 [15][16]	Austin Powers by George S. Clinton	Sequences from Holiday on Ice Show

Results

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

2004–05 to 2013–14

International[17]
Event	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14
Olympics						29th				23rd
Worlds			41st	33rd	32nd	32nd		32nd	29th	21st
Europeans			32nd	35th	34th	19th	21st	14th	18th	21st
GP Bompard							9th
Bavarian Open									12th
Crystal Skate	4th	9th		6th			2nd	3rd	2nd	1st
Cup of Nice				12th			12th		10th
Golden Spin	15th	22nd	16th	16th			WD
Merano Cup						9th	2nd
Nebelhorn				14th		13th			20th	6th
Nepela Trophy									7th
NRW Trophy							15th
Printemps								2nd	3rd
Schäfer Memorial					10th
Slovenia Open										3rd
International: Junior[17]
Junior Worlds	19th	17th
JGP Bulgaria		18th
JGP Croatia		19th
JGP Hungary	18th
Montfort Cup	3rd
National[17]
Romanian Champ.	2nd	3rd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
WD: Withdrew

1998–99 to 2003–04

International[17]
Event	98–99	99–00	00–01	01–02	02–03	03–04
Crystal Skate of Romania			2nd J.		6th	7th
National[17]
Romanian Champ.	5th	5th	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd
J. = Junior level

References

1. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014.
2. "Titkos küldetés" (in Hungarian). Transindex.ro. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
3. "Zoltan Kelemen". Sochi2014.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014.
4. Bőd, Titanilla (2010). "Zoltán Kelemen: "I’m not on holiday in the US"". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
5. "Zoltán Kelemen Biography and Olympic Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
6. Bőd, Titanilla (14 January 2013). "Zoltán Kelemen: "Skating comes first for me now"". Absolute Skating.
7. Tone, Florentina (1 March 2014). "Zoltan Kelemen: „The life of a Romanian skater is not simple – and it will never be simple”". InsideSkating.net.
8. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013.
9. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012.
10. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011.
11. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009.
12. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009.
13. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008.
14. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 April 2007.
15. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 May 2006.
16. "Zoltan KELEMEN: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005.
17. "Competition Results: Zoltan KELEMEN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.

External links

Media related to Zoltán Kelemen at Wikimedia Commons

• Zoltán Kelemen at the International Skating Union
• Zoltan Kelemen at Tracings