Sandra Bezic


Sandra Marie Bezic is a Canadian pair skater, figure skating choreographer, and television commentator. With partner and brother Val Bezic, she won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships from 1970–1974 and placed ninth at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Skate Canada announced on July 14, 2010, that she will be inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in the professional category

Early life

Bezic was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 6, 1956. She is of Croatian descent. She is the younger sister of Val Bezic who was her skating partner.

Skating career

Bezic competed in Canadian national competitions and international competitions from 1967 to 1975. In 1975, during training for the 1976 Olympics, she tore her ankle ligaments and had to forgo the 1976 Olympics. She turned professional in 1976.
Bezic choreographed the competitive programs skated by many Olympic and World champions, including Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini, Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi, Kurt Browning, and Tara Lipinski. She has also choreographed programs for Jill Trenary, Chen Lu, Joannie Rochette, Yuna Kim, Takahiko Kozuka, Jeremy Abbott and other skaters.
Bezic served as a commentator for NBC during the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Olympic games, the World Figure Skating Championships during the early 1990s, and numerous other skating events broadcast by NBC and CBC over the years.
For several years she was the director, co-producer, and choreographer for Stars on Ice, for which she won an Emmy Award in 2003. She has also choreographed for several television figure skating specials including Canvas of Ice, Carmen on Ice, and You Must Remember This.
Bezic is the author of The Passion to Skate,. She also served as a judge on the CBC television program Battle of the Blades in each season.
She is credited as Marlon Brando's skating coach in The Freshman and appears with him in the skating rink scene.

Competition results

with Val Bezic:

Literature