Announcing her decision to give up skating in a statement aired on her web-site on Sunday, 25-year-old Karademir said, “I feel deeply sorry to inform you that I have ended my activities as an active sportswoman”.
Karademir said it was a though decision to quit, however, she could not feel the necessary motivation to carry on with her sports career anymore.
She said it was now more important for her to complete her university education which she had been trying to carry out slowly due to her career in skating.
Commenting on Karademir’s decision, Fehmi Tekelioğlu from the Turkish Federation of Ice Skating said that he felt sorry as the national figure skater decided to quit sports 7 months before the 2011 Universiade Winter Games to be held in Turkey’s eastern Erzurum province.
Tugba Karademir was the first Turkish figure skater in history to compete at the Olympic Winter Games in 2006, and became the 21st with 123.64 points. Her 10th place finish at the 2007 European Championships was the best placement of a Turkish figure skater in an ISU Championship so far. She also represented Turkey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
Karademir started to skate at age 5 as a part of her kindergarten activities when the first ice rink opened in capital Ankara. At the age of 8, she competed for the first time internationally for Turkey.
Karademir moved with her parents to Canada when she was 12 years old for better practice conditions. She is still a student at York University in Toronto, Canada.
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