Sandra Marie Bezic (born April 6, 1956) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pair skater,

figure skating 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 Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics, 1908 Olympics ...

choreographer, and television commentator. With her brother

Val Bezic Val Nicholas Bezic (born December 8, 1952) is a Canadian pair skater. With his sister Sandra Bezic, he won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships from 1970–1974 and placed ninth at the 1972 Winter Olympics. He is of Croatian descent. Resul ...

, she won the

Canadian Figure Skating Championships The Canadian Figure Skating Championships (french: Championnats du Canada de patinage artistique) is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Canada. It is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skat ...

from 1970 to 1974 and placed ninth at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

. Skate Canada announced on July 14, 2010, that she will be inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in the professional category

Early life

Bezic was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, on April 6, 1956. She is of

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

descent. She is the younger sister of

who was her skating partner.

Skating career

Bezic competed in Canadian national competitions and international competitions from 1967 to 1975. In 1975, during training for the 1976 Olympics, she tore her ankle ligaments and had to forgo the 1976 Olympics. She turned professional in 1976. Bezic choreographed the competitive programs skated by many Olympic and World champions, including Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini (1984 Worlds), Brian Boitano (

1988 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 57 , athletes = 1,423 (1,122 men, 301 women) , events = 46 in 6 sports (10 disciplines) , opening = February 13, 1988 , closing = February 28, 1988 , opened_by = Governor General Jeanne Sauvé , cauldron ...

Kristi Yamaguchi Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi (born July 12, 1971) is an American former figure skater. In ladies' singles, Yamaguchi is the 1992 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1991 and 1992), and the 1992 U.S. champion. In 1992, she became the firs ...

(

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 ...

Kurt Browning Kurt Browning, (born June 18, 1966) is a Canadian figure skater, choreographer and commentator. He is the first skater to land a ratified quadruple jump in competition. He is a four-time World Champion and Canadian national champion. Career ...

(1993 Worlds), and

Tara Lipinski Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...

(

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

). She has also choreographed programs for Jill Trenary, Chen Lu, Joannie Rochette, Yuna Kim,

Takahiko Kozuka is a former competitive Japanese figure skater. He is the 2011 World silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final medalist, a two-time Four Continents medalist, and the 2010–11 Japanese national champion. He is also the 2006 World Jun ...

, Jeremy Abbott (2015) and other skaters. Bezic served as a commentator for NBC during the 2002, 2006, 2010, and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Olympic games, the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

during the early 1990s, and numerous other skating events broadcast by NBC and CBC over the years. For several years she was the director, co-producer, and choreographer for '' Stars on Ice'', for which she won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 2003. She has also choreographed for several television figure skating specials including ''Canvas of Ice'', '' Carmen on Ice'', and ''You Must Remember This''. Bezic is the author of ''The Passion to Skate'' (), (). She also served as a judge on the CBC television program '' Battle of the Blades'' in each season. She is credited as Marlon Brando's skating coach in '' The Freshman'' (1990) and appears with him in the skating rink scene.

Competition results

Pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

with

Literature

*Eterovich, Adam S
''Croatia at the Olympics, 1890s-1980s (!?!)''.
// CROWN – Croatian World Network, ach, Nenad N. (ed.) ISSN 1847-3911, 08/3/2004, Retrieved 2010-02-17 * Beisteiner, Johanna: ''Art music in figure skating, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics / Kunstmusik in Eiskunstlauf, Synchronschwimmen und rhythmischer Gymnastik''. PhD thesis by Johanna Beisteiner,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

2005, (German). The PhD thesis contains an extensive description and analysis of Carmen on Ice (Chapter II/2, pages 105–162)
Article about the PhD thesis
of Johanna Beisteiner in the catalogue of the Austrian Library Network. 2005. (German and English)

References

* *

External links

Sandra Bezic's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezic, Sandra 1956 births Living people Canadian female pair skaters Canadian people of Croatian descent Canadian figure skating coaches Olympic figure skaters of Canada Olympic Games broadcasters Figure skaters from Toronto Figure skaters at the 1972 Winter Olympics Figure skating commentators Figure skating choreographers Female sports coaches