Sandra Bezic

Sandra Marie Bezic (born April 6, 1956) is a Canadian pair skater, figure skating choreographer, and television commentator. With her brother Val Bezic, she won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships from 1970–1974 and placed ninth at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Skate Canada announced on July 14, 2010, that she will be inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in the professional category

Sandra Bezic
Personal information
Full nameSandra Marie Bezic
Country represented Canada
Born (1956-04-06) April 6, 1956
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Former partnerVal Bezic
Skating clubTCS & CC
Official Website

Early life

Bezic was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 6, 1956. She is of Croatian descent. She is the younger sister of Val Bezic 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), Kristi Yamaguchi (1992 Winter Olympics), Kurt Browning (1993 Worlds), and Tara Lipinski (1998 Winter Olympics). She has also choreographed programs for Jill Trenary, Chen Lu, Joannie Rochette, Yuna Kim, Takahiko Kozuka, Jeremy Abbott (2015) and other skaters.

Bezic served as a commentator for NBC during the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Olympic games, the World Figure Skating Championships 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 in 2003.[1] 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 (ISBN 1-57036-375-7), (ISBN 0-83626452-5). 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 with Val Bezic:[2]

International
Event 68–69 69–70 70–71 71–72 72–73 73–74
Olympics9th
Worlds14th9th8th6th5th
International St. Gervais1st
North American Champ.5th3rd
National
Canadian Champ.3rd1st1st1st1st1st

Literature

References
  1. CBC. "Bio – Sandra Bezic". CBC News. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  2. "Sports Reference profile – Sandra Bezic". Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
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