Tamar Katz

Tamar Katz (Hebrew: תמר כץ, born September 26, 1989 [1]) is an Israeli-American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2005, 2007, and 2008 Israeli national champion.

Tamar Katz
Born (1989-09-26) September 26, 1989
Dallas, Texas, United States
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
Country Israel
Skating clubMetula FSC
Began skating1999
Retired2010

Personal life

Katz was born September 26, 1989, in Dallas, Texas.[2] The daughter of Leora and Yirmi Katz, she was raised with two brothers, Eyal and Ronen.[3] Due to her father's work as a diplomat at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., she resided in Maryland from the age of seven, before settling in Metula, Israel when she was 13.[4] At age 15, she returned to the United States for training opportunities.[5] She began college studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010.

In September 2010, her brother, Ronen, was killed in a hit and run accident in New York City.[6]

Career

Katz began skating as an extracurricular activity at the age of 9 and became more serious about skating a year later.[7][8] She trained in Rockville, Maryland, until she was 13, followed by Metula, Israel until age 15, and then in the United States again.[4][5]

Katz's best season was 2006–07. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Golden Spin of Zagreb, finished a career-best 13th at the 2007 European Championships, and qualified for the free skate at the 2007 World Championships.

In 2008, Katz was 16th at the Europeans and 22nd at Worlds. She sustained a stress fracture to her right foot and a broken hand in December 2008 and missed the 2009 European Championships. She finished 25th at the 2009 World Championships. She was coached by Peter Burrows in Monsey, New York.[9]

Katz qualified a spot for Israel in ladies' figure skating at the 2010 Olympics with her 12th-place finish at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy;[10] she was the first Israeli ladies' single skater to qualify for an Olympics.[5] However, suffering from a virus, she had a poor showing at the 2010 European Championships, failing to meet the Israeli Olympic committee's criterion of finishing in the top 14 at the event.[5] Katz appealed this decision with the support of the Israeli Ice Skating Federation, but was unsuccessful. The Israeli Olympic Committee ceded the Olympic spot to the alternate, Australian skater Cheltzie Lee.[10][11] Katz stated that "The Israeli Olympic Committee said that they want medals and that I can compete in 2014. What they don't understand is that if they want me to medal at 2014, the crucial exposure and experience that this Olympics would have given me has been taken away."[10] She competed at the 2010 World Championships, but did not qualify for the free skate. During the 2009–10 season, she was coached by Burrows, Mary-Lynn Gelderman, and Galit Chait at Sport-o-Rama in Monsey, New York[2][5] and then by Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson in Boston, Massachusetts.[12]

Programs
Season Short program Free skating
2010–2011
[13]
2009–2010
[13][12]
2008–2009
[13][9]
  • Gone With the Wind
    by Max Steiner
  • Concerto in F
    by George Gershwin
    choreo. by Lea Ann Miller
2007–2008
[13][14]
2006–2007
[13][15]
  • Malagueña
    by Ernesto Lecuona
2005–2006
[16]
  • Spanish medley
2004–2005
[17]
  • Doctor Zhivago
    by Maurice Jarre
    performed by German Philharmonic Orchestra
2003–2004
[18]
  • Doctor Zhivago
    by Maurice Jarre
    performed by German Philharmonic Orchestra
2002–2003
[19]
  • Doctor Zhivago
    by Maurice Jarre

Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[20]
Event 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
Worlds16th QR23rd22nd25th27th
Europeans13th16th21st
Nebelhorn12th
Golden Spin2nd5th
Karl Schäfer4th
Merano Cup4th
Skate Israel4th
International: Junior[20]
Junior Worlds22nd
JGP Bulgaria9th
JGP Croatia16th
JGP Germany10th12th
JGP Japan12th
JGP Romania8th
EYOF9th
National[20]
Israeli Champ.2nd J.1st
J. = Junior level; QR = Qualifying round

See also

References
  1. "Tamar Katz Official Website". tamarkatz.com. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. "Tamar KATZ: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010.
  3. "Profile". Official site of Tamar Katz. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015.
  4. "Soul on ice". israel21c.org. October 19, 2003. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015.
  5. Siegel, Masada (January 29, 2010). "An Olympic Qualifier, but Not in Israel's Eyes". The New York Times.
  6. Moynihan, Colin; Schweber, Nate (September 20, 2010). "Two Lives Intersect in Fatal Manhattan Crash". The New York Times.
  7. Golinsky, Reut (2009). "Let us introduce: Tamar Katz, Part I". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  8. Golinsky, Reut (2009). "Let us introduce: Tamar Katz, Part II". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  9. "Tamar KATZ: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 9, 2009.
  10. Rutherford, Lynn (February 1, 2010). "Israel cedes Olympic ladies spot to Australia". icenetwork.com. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  11. Siegel, Masada (February 2, 2010). "Australian Figure Skater Is Helped by Israel's Rules". The New York Times.
  12. "Tamar KATZ: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011.
  13. "Programs". Official site of Tamar Katz. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015.
  14. "Tamar KATZ: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008.
  15. "Tamar KATZ: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 23, 2007.
  16. "Tamar KATZ: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 16, 2006.
  17. "Tamar KATZ: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 3, 2005.
  18. "Tamar KATZ: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 8, 2004.
  19. "Tamar KATZ: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 29, 2003.
  20. "Competition Results: Tamar KATZ". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012.
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