Anna Dušková (born 30 December 1999) is a retired Czech figure skater. Competing in pairs with partner Martin Bidař, she is the 2016 World Junior champion, 2016 Youth Olympic silver medalist (individually and in the team event), and 2015 JGP Final silver medalist. As a single skater, she is the 2015 NRW Trophy bronze medalist.

Anna Dušková
Dušková and Bidař at the 2015–16 JGP Final
Born (1999-12-30) 30 December 1999 (age 24)
Nymburk, Czech Republic
HometownLysá nad Labem, Czech Republic
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Figure skating career
CountryCzech Republic
CoachEva Horklová, Richard Gauthier, Bruno Marcotte
Skating clubUSK Praha
Began skating2004
RetiredJune 24, 2020[1]
Medal record
Representing  Czech Republic
Figure skating: Pairs
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Debrecen Pairs
Winter Youth Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2016 Lillehammer Pairs
Junior Grand Prix Final
Silver medal – second place 2016–17 Marseille Pairs
Silver medal – second place 2015–16 Barcelona Pairs
Representing Mixed-NOCs
Winter Youth Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2016 Lillehammer Mixed NOC team

Personal life

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Dušková was born on 30 December 1999 in Nymburk, Czech Republic.[2]

Skating career

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Single skating

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Dušková started learning to skate in 2004.[2] She was introduced to the activity at school and then persuaded her mother to let her continue with it.[3]

Competing in ladies' singles, she placed 32nd at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She won the senior bronze medal at the 2015 NRW Trophy.

First few seasons with Bidař

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Dušková and Martin Bidař began skating together as a pair after their coach, Eva Horklová, suggested the idea.[3] Recalling their beginnings, Dušková stated, "It was quite embarrassing at first, because everybody was skating singles and we had to hold hands. We were so young and shy."[3] In the 2011–2012 season, they competed together on the novice national level.

2013–2014 season: Junior international debut

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Dušková/Bidař's ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut came in the 2013–2014 season; they finished 8th in September 2013 in Košice, Slovakia, and 6th the next month in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In March 2014, the pair placed 10th at the World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, having ranked 10th in both segments.

2014–2015 season

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In 2014–2015, Dušková/Bidař continued on the JGP series, finishing 10th in Estonia and 8th in Germany. They came in 8th at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, after placing 9th in both segments.

2015–2016 season: Gold at World Junior Championships

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Although based mainly in the Czech Republic,[4] Dušková/Bidař also spent some time training in Montreal and Sochi in the summer of 2015 and made another visit to Montreal during the competitive season.[3]

Competing in the 2015 JGP series, Dušková/Bidař won a silver medal in August in Linz, Austria, and finished 4th the following month in Riga, Latvia. The results qualified them for the 2015 JGP Final, held in December 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. Ranked third in the short program and second in the free skate, Dušková/Bidař edged out Russia's Amina Atakhanova / Ilia Spiridonov by 0.33 for the silver medal behind Ekaterina Borisova / Dmitry Sopot, who won gold by a margin of 9.53 points.[5] They became the first Czech pair to step on the podium at a JGP Final.

In February 2016, Dušková/Bidař competed in Hamar, Norway, at the Winter Youth Olympics, placing first in the short program, second in the free skate, and second overall with a total score 2.53 less than Borisova/Sopot. Their silver is the Czech Republic's first Youth Olympic medal in figure skating. In March, Dušková/Bidař won gold at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.[6] Ranked first in both segments, they outscored two Russian pairs – silver medalists Anastasia Mishina / Vladislav Mirzoev by 9.22 points and bronze medalists Ekaterina Borisova / Dmitry Sopot by 12.82 points – to become the Czech Republic's first World Junior champions in figure skating. They are also the first pair skaters from outside China, Russia, or the United States to win the competition since 2001. On their future plans, Dušková stated that "there will be less and less singles competitions for me. We will concentrate on pairs."[7]

2016–2017 season: Senior debut

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Ahead of the season, Dušková/Bidař spent three weeks training in Montreal before returning to the Czech Republic.[8] Opening their season on the JGP series, the pair won gold at their September event in Ostrava, ahead of Atakhanova/Spiridonov, and then silver the following month in Dresden, behind Mishina/Mirzoev. Later in October, making their senior international debut, they outscored Miriam Ziegler / Severin Kiefer to win the International Cup of Nice. In December, they placed second to Mishina/Mirzoev at the JGP Final in Marseille.

They placed 7th at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, and 14th at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki.

2017–2018 season: Winter Olympics

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In September 2017, Dušková/Bidař competed at the Nebelhorn Trophy, the final qualifying opportunity for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The pair placed 9th and earned a spot for the Czech Republic in the pairs' event at the Olympics.

Dušková injured a knee ligament during a warm-up before training in late October and decided later to undergo an operation.[9][10] As a result, the pair withdrew from their two Grand Prix assignments – the 2017 Cup of China and 2017 Internationaux de France.[9]

Dušková/Bidař returned to competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They qualified to the free skate by placing 15th in the short program and went on to finish 14th overall.[11] Ranked 13th in the short and 11th in the free, the pair finished 11th at the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy. On 27 April 2018, they announced that they had parted ways.[12][13]

Single skating

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As a single skater, Dušková made her JGP debut in September 2013, placing 12th at an event in Gdańsk, Poland. She competed at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria but was eliminated after placing 32nd in the short program. During the 2014–15 season, she placed 10th and 14th at her JGP assignments.

In 2015–16, Dušková was 10th at her JGP event in Toruń, Poland. She made her senior international debut in October, finishing 11th at the 2015 Ondrej Nepela Trophy and 6th at the 2015 Ice Challenge, both of which were part of the ISU Challenger Series (CS). In late November, she won the senior bronze medal at the 2015 NRW Trophy in Dortmund Germany.

Programs

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Dušková/Bidař at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics
 
Dušková/Bidař at the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final

With Bidař

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Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2017–2018
[2]
  • LA 40
    (Album: Tango Hereje)
    performed by The Mozart Tango Players
    choreo. by Maurizio Margaglio
2016–2017
[14]
  • Mamboleo
    by Mambo Mania
2015–2016
[4]
2014–2015
[15]
2013–2014
[16]
  • Italian Street Song
    by Victor Herbert
  • Waltz
  • Italian Street Song
    by Victor Herbert
2012–2013
2011–2012 unknown

Single skating

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Season Short program Free skating
2016–2017
  • 11h11
    (from Kurios)
    by Raphaël Beau, Guy Dubuc, and Marc Lessard
unknown
2014–2016
[17][18]
  • Larrons En Foire
    (from Micmacs)
    by Raphael Beau
2013–2014
[19]

Competitive highlights

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GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Bidař

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Dušková/Bidař at the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final
International[5]
Event 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18
Olympics 14th
Worlds 14th 11th
Europeans 7th
CS Nebelhorn 9th
Cup of Nice 1st
International: Junior[5]
Junior Worlds 10th 8th 1st
Youth Olympics 2nd
JGP Final 2nd 2nd
JGP Austria 2nd
JGP Czech Rep. 6th 1st
JGP Estonia 10th
JGP Germany 8th 2nd
JGP Latvia 4th
JGP Slovakia 8th
Ice Challenge 1st 1st
NRW Trophy 1st 2nd
National[5]
Czech Champ. 1st J 1st J
Team events
Youth Olympics 2nd T
2nd P
WD = Withdrew
T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Single skating

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International[20]
Event 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17
CS Ice Challenge 6th
CS Lombardia Trophy 19th
CS Nepela Trophy 11th
NRW Trophy 3rd
International: Junior[20]
Junior Worlds 32nd
JGP Croatia 14th
JGP Czech Republic 10th
JGP Poland 12th 10th
EYOF 8th
Cup of Nice 3rd
Ice Challenge 2nd 3rd
National[20]
Czech Champ. 3rd
Czech Junior Champ. 1st 1st
Four Nationals 6th

References

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  1. ^ Dušková, Anna (June 24, 2020). ""Dear friends, I've been thinking the past several weeks and I've made probably the toughest decision of my life"" (Instagram). Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  2. ^ a b c "Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Flade, Tatjana (8 May 2016). "Duskova and Bidar look ahead after momentous season". Golden Skate.
  4. ^ a b "Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ a b c d "Competition Results: Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  6. ^ Flade, Tatjana (17 March 2016). "Duskova and Bidar win historic gold for Czech Republic". Golden Skate.
  7. ^ Bőd, Titanilla (14 April 2016). "Anna Dušková and Martin Bidař - first in the most important moment". Absolute Skating.
  8. ^ Flade, Tatjana (16 January 2017). "Featured interview: Anna Duskova & Martin Bidar (CZE)". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Grand Prix 2017". Czech Figure Skating Association (in Czech). 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Nejlepší česká sportovní dvojice má problém, Dušková musí na operaci" [The Czech Republic's best pair has a problem, Dušková needs an operation]. Česká televize (in Czech). 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Athlete Profile - Anna DUSKOVA". pyeongchang2018.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  12. ^ Johnstone, Chris (27 April 2018). "Czech ice skating duo Dusková and Bidař announce split". radio.cz.
  13. ^ "Sportovní dvojice Dušková a Bidař se rozdělila. České krasobruslení by mohlo získat dva nové páry" [Pair skaters Dušková and Bidař have parted ways. Czech figure skating may have two new pairs]. czechskating.org (in Czech). 27 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. ^ "Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ^ "Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ "Anna DUSKOVA: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Anna DUSKOVA: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ "Anna DUSKOVA: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ a b c "Competition Results: Anna DUSKOVA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018.
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