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Karel Zelenka
Karel Zelenka
	Zelenka in 2007
Born	March 31, 1983 (age 41); Louny, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Italy
Coach	Karel Zelenka Sr., Mirco Botta, Edoardo De Bernardis
Skating club	Agora Skating Team
Began skating	1988
Retired	2010

Karel Zelenka (born March 31, 1983) is a Czech-Italian former competitive figure skater. He is a five-time (2003–2007) Italian national champion and competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He qualified to the free skate at eleven ISU Championships – three World, three World Junior, and five European Championships – and finished in the top ten twice.

Personal life

Zelenka was born in 1983 in Louny, Czechoslovakia.^[1] His father is a figure skating coach.^[2] The family moved to Italy when the younger Zelenka was six years old.^[2] He received Italian citizenship in January 2006.^[3]

Career

Zelenka debuted on the ISU Junior Series (ISU Junior Grand Prix) in 1997. He won the Italian junior title in the 1998–99 season and was sent to his first ISU Championship – 1999 Junior Worlds in Zagreb, Croatia, where he finished 20th after qualifying to the final segment.

Zelenka placed 19th at the 2000 Junior Worlds in Oberstdorf, Germany, and 8th at the 2001 Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria. In October 2001, he won the silver medal at his JGP assignment in Poland.

Zelenka won the first of his five consecutive senior national titles in the 2002–03 season. He reached the free skate at the 2003 European Championships in Malmö but was eliminated after the short program at the 2003 World Championships in Washington, D.C.

Zelenka competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin; he placed 25th in the short program and missed qualifying to the free skate by one spot. He achieved his career-best ISU Championship placement, 7th, at the 2007 European Championships in Warsaw.

He trained in Milan, Italy; Oberstdorf, Germany; and Switzerland.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating
2009–10 ^[1]	Blues for Klook by Eddy Louiss	Burn the Floor Cheek to Cheek Let Yourself Go Top Hat White Tie and Tails
2008–09 ^[7]	Nut Rocker by Robert Wells	Burn the Floor Cheek to Cheek Let Yourself Go Top Hat White Tie and Tails
2007–08 ^[8]	Blues for Klook by Eddy Louiss	The Truman Show by Burkhard Dallwitz, Philip Glass
2006–07 ^[9]	Blues for Klook by Eddy Louiss	Alexander by Vangelis
2005–06 ^[3]	Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev Art of War by Vanessa-Mae	Alexander by Vangelis
2004–05 ^[10]	Elements by Frank Nimsgren	Lord of the Dance by Ronan Hardiman Dreamcatcher by Secret Garden
2003–04 ^[11]	Quixote by Magnus Fiennes performed by Bond	Lord of the Dance by Ronan Hardiman
2002–03 ^[12]	Quixote by Magnus Fiennes performed by Bond	Light Cavalry by Franz von Suppé, London Symphony Orchestra
2000–01 ^[13]	Live at the Acropolis by Yanni, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra	Carmen by Georges Bizet

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International^[14]
Event	98–99	99–00	00–01	01–02	02–03	03–04	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10
Olympics								25th
Worlds					25th		20th	25th	17th	16th
Europeans					19th	16th		19th	7th	15th		23rd
GP Cup of China										6th
GP Skate America									10th	12th
GP Skate Canada								10th
Finlandia Trophy											7th	16th
Golden Spin					10th	4th		6th
Nebelhorn Trophy									5th
Nepela Memorial						3rd
NRW Trophy												13th
Schäfer Memorial									4th
Triglav Trophy											4th
International: Junior^[14]
Junior Worlds	20th	19th	8th
JGP Germany	12th		5th
JGP Italy				6th
JGP Norway		15th	8th
JGP Poland				2nd
JGP Slovakia	14th
JGP Slovenia		10th
National^[14]
Italian Champ.	1st J	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	WD	3rd
J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew

References

^ ^a ^b "Karel ZELENKA: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011.
^ ^a ^b Mittan, Barry (2 February 2006). "Italy's Zelenka Aims for Olympics". SkateToday.
^ ^a ^b "Karel ZELENKA: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Interview with Karel Zelenka". figureskating-online. 10 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Interview with Karel Zelenka, July 2008 in Oberstdorf". figureskating-online. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel Zelenka: "my life without skates? Impossible"". ArtOnIce.it. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 June 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 14 October 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Karel ZELENKA: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 April 2001.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Competition Results: Karel ZELENKA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.