Krisztina Czakó is a former Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 figure skater

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

, competing through most of the 1990s.

Career

Czakó's mother Klara was a speed skater

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

, while her father and coach Gyorgy Czakó

György Czakó

György Czakó is a Hungarian figure skater. He is a three-time Hungarian national champion. He represented Hungary at the 1952 Winter Olympics where he placed 12th. He is the father of Krisztina Czakó.-Career:György Czakó started skating at age 6 at the suggestion of a pediatrician...

 was himself a figure skater and a former Hungarian men's national champion. Gyorgy began teaching Krisztina how to skate before she was a year old, making her a pair of skates himself when none could be found that were small enough to fit her.

Czakó was the youngest athlete to compete in the 1992 Winter Olympics

1992 Winter Olympics

The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...

, at age 13 years and 2 months. She was so young that she was still able to compete in the World Junior Championship in 1994 and 1995 (finishing second and third, respectively), despite her Olympic experience. She made her second Olympic appearance in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994

1994 Winter Olympics

The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...

, finishing 11th. She intended to compete in her third Olympics in 1998

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

 and was considered a dark horse

Dark horse

Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...

 medal contender among figure skating fans, but had to withdraw due to injury.

Czakó earned a reputation early in her career as a strong technical and athletic skater who lacked artistic flair; thus she would earn high marks in her short program, but have trouble holding her position in the free skate where artistry is more important. She made an effort to overcome that weakness later in her career, and in 1997 she debuted her most famous and popular long program, skated to the music of The Addams Family

The Addams Family (TV series)

The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966...

. It paid off with a second place finish at the European Championships

European Figure Skating Championships

The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...

 and a seventh place finish at the World Championships

World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

, both career bests. Her silver medal at Europeans was the first medal for Hungary in the European ladies' event since 1971.

As an amateur, Czakó was a seven-time Hungarian national champion (1992-1998), and represented her country in two Olympics, six World Championships, and six European championships, along with numerous other competitions. She is now retired from competitive skating, and was last known to be working as a preschool teacher in Budapest.

Results

Event	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1999-00
Winter Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...	23rd		11th				WD
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...	17th	15th	12th	23rd	11th	7th
European Championships European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...	16th	6th	6th	8th	6th	2nd	5th
Junior World Championships World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...	25th	7th	2nd	3rd
Hungarian Championships Hungarian Figure Skating Championships The Hungarian Figure Skating Championships are a figure skating national championship held annually to determine the national champions of Hungary. Skaters compete in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing...	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
Skate Canada International Skate Canada International The Skate Canada International is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by Skate Canada. It is the second competition of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: Ladies' singles, Men's...			4th	1st	7th
Trophée Lalique				7th	6th	5th	5th
Cup of Russia Cup of Russia The Cup of Russia is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. It was held as the Rostelecom Cup in 2009 after...					6th
Nations Cup Bofrost Cup on Ice The Bofrost Cup on Ice was a figure skating competition held in Germany between 1986 and 2004. It was part of the Grand Prix series until 2003, when it was replaced by Cup of China. Following being booted out of the Grand Prix series, a new form of competition was introduced to the Bofrost Cup...						5th
Finlandia Trophy Finlandia Trophy The Finlandia Trophy is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Finland. Skaters compete in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating and ice dancing, although not every discipline has been included in every year...						3rd
Karl Schäfer Memorial Karl Schäfer Memorial The Karl Schäfer Memorial is an annual elite senior-level figure skating competition held in Vienna, Austria. Skaters compete in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The competition is named for figure skater Karl Schäfer. The competition is usually held in...		8th	1st	2nd	1st	8th		2nd
Ondrej Nepela Memorial Ondrej Nepela Memorial The Ondrej Nepela Memorial is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Slovakia. Skaters compete in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies singles, pairs, and ice dancing. In some years, some disciplines have not been held....					1st
European Youth Olympic Festival European Youth Olympic Festival European Youth Olympic Festival, known by its initials EYOF, is a biennial multi-sport event for youth athletes from the 48 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. EYOF has a summer edition, held for the first time in Brussels in 1991, and a winter edition, which began...				3rd

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