Soccer player becomes figure skater aka Bestandigova news. (Threads Merged)

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Ok, should we do a poll, betting on who will be more successful - Ilhan in pairs or Andreev in ice-dance?

[MikiAndoFan#1]

Ok, should we do a poll, betting on who will be more successful - Ilhan in pairs or Andreev in ice-dance?

[Asli]

Ok, should we do a poll, betting on who will be more successful - Ilhan in pairs or Andreev in ice-dance?

For the moment Ilhan is winning 3-0.
He is already dating his partner, he has won Skating with the Stars and he has appeared in a shampoo commercial on his skates.
And all this, without the help of his mother.

[Finnice]

Ok, should we do a poll, betting on who will be more successful - Ilhan in pairs or Andreev in ice-dance?

It is very easy to answer this one:
PURPLE!

[Hedwig]

This is already quite an old thread - are these two still skating?

[lulu]

Ok, should we do a poll, betting on who will be more successful - Ilhan in pairs or Andreev in ice-dance?

Now we can add a new poll question, who will be more successful in pairs, KVP or Ilhan?

[ioana]

This is already quite an old thread - are these two still skating?

Am pretty sure we would have heard about it if they still planned to compete. It's very possible they could still do shows and the like, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmw8xVLX1Yg (no idea what she said, or if any of it is relevant, but it's the latest video of her I could find)

ETA: Strike the above. Apparently, Sochi is something they'd still like to try for according to this. The article mentioned trainining in the US in May 2012, but don't know if that actually happened.

http://sport.cas.sk/clanok/218706/ol...-vittekom.html

Mean-spirited theory: article came out March 7th, so before new minimum TS were announced. That might explain scraping plans to travel to the US and train....

[schiele_]

https://twitter.com/mansiz26
This is Ilhan's twitter account and according to recent tweets, plan Sochi is still on.
On 10th september, he twitted he completed 2 training sessions and has 2 more to go. So seems they are training every day.

[ioana]

^Thanks! If they can afford it & don't mind daily training, more power to them.

[icetiff]

Ilhan and his partner just started training in Scottsdale, AZ and are taking from Doug Ladret.

[ioana]

Ilhan and his partner just started training in Scottsdale, AZ and are taking from Doug Ladret.

If you ever happen to see them training, please let us know how they look.

ETA: thanks for the update!

[icetiff]

They are on the ice when we train. They are looking good. His basic skating skills are amazing. You would never know that he didn't grow up skating. He's very strong and off ice they can do many of the pair lifts. On ice the lifts are coming and his feet on the turns are impressive, not scary. Oli is a very good partner for him. She's a strong pair girl.

[ioana]

Sounds like they made some good progress since they first teamed up over 2 years ago. Thanks again for the reports & good luck in SLC !

[dots]

I'm really curious about this pair. I hope to see them next year!

[Jeschke]

I'm really curious about this pair. I hope to see them next year!

warm up video of ilhan; some more right above int he corner

http://twitter.yfrog.com/11spelwqyrwfeoaskuvculnzz

[lulu]

They are on the ice when we train. They are looking good. His basic skating skills are amazing. You would never know that he didn't grow up skating. He's very strong and off ice they can do many of the pair lifts. On ice the lifts are coming and his feet on the turns are impressive, not scary. Oli is a very good partner for him. She's a strong pair girl.

Thanks for the update. I haven't even heard of him until I read this thread, but I think I have my new favorite pairs team. His skating sounds very impressive, and I can't wait to see them skate in competition.

[luenatic]

warm up video of ilhan; some more right above int he corner

http://twitter.yfrog.com/11spelwqyrwfeoaskuvculnzz

Interesting... Stronger left knee bend than the right...

[schiele_]

Well, when I watched him on the Dancing on Ice show, his progress was mind boggling. I know he's an athlete, so he has a natural advantage over others but still.. The others really couldnt compete with him in any way. Even then a lot of ppl said he was a natural talent and he was insisting on being shown new and more difficult moves in training although he didnt need them to win. I think he immediately has gotten fond of skating and his pleasure from skating came across.
I know its almost an impossible dream but all the more power to him for following it through..

[ioana]

I know its almost an impossible dream but all the more power to him for following it through..

If nothing else, making this much progress in 2 years as an adult skater would make an excellent inspirational story for anyone who starts skating later on in life. I really don't know how realistic Sochi is, but it's always better to try and have no regrets later on

[Ziggy]

And there are other competitions besides Sochi.

Turkey has never had a pair team and it would be great to see them compete at some international competitions at least.