BERLIN Oct 28 (Reuters Life!) - A soccer player who shot to
fame playing for Turkey's national team in the 2002 World Cup,
has ditched his football boots for ice skates and is now hoping
to cover himself in glory at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Ilhan Mansiz showed great promise as a striker in 2002, when
he scored three goals, helping his side to a best-ever third
place finish in the World Cup. But injury forced him to retire
in 2006 and he became a television presenter.
In 2008, at age 32, German-born Mansiz took to the ice for
the first time in his life -- as part of a Turkish television
show in which celebrities are paired up with professional
ice-skaters for a competition lasting several weeks.
Partnered with Olga Bestandigova, a Slovak figure skater who
competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, Mansiz won the show.
Mansiz said Bestandigova -- now his girlfriend -- dreamt of
taking part in another Olympic Games but did not have a partner.
"We had so much fun and trained for between six and eight
hours a day," he told Reuters. "We came on in leaps and bounds
so we decided to train for the Olympics."
The 35-year-old said starting to skate so late was not a
problem -- what mattered were motivation and belief.
"I started playing football very late too," he said. "I
didn't start playing for a club until I was 14. If you're really
determined to achieve something and you believe you can do it or
you work hard at it, it's possible no matter how old you are."
Mansiz has said in several interviews that his dream is to
qualify and compete for Turkey at the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Russia. It was unclear on how his Slovak partner would qualify
for the Turkish Olympic team.
The pair are currently training in the southern German town
of Oberstdorf, near where Mansiz was born.
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fame playing for Turkey's national team in the 2002 World Cup,
has ditched his football boots for ice skates and is now hoping
to cover himself in glory at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Ilhan Mansiz showed great promise as a striker in 2002, when
he scored three goals, helping his side to a best-ever third
place finish in the World Cup. But injury forced him to retire
in 2006 and he became a television presenter.
In 2008, at age 32, German-born Mansiz took to the ice for
the first time in his life -- as part of a Turkish television
show in which celebrities are paired up with professional
ice-skaters for a competition lasting several weeks.
Partnered with Olga Bestandigova, a Slovak figure skater who
competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, Mansiz won the show.
Mansiz said Bestandigova -- now his girlfriend -- dreamt of
taking part in another Olympic Games but did not have a partner.
"We had so much fun and trained for between six and eight
hours a day," he told Reuters. "We came on in leaps and bounds
so we decided to train for the Olympics."
The 35-year-old said starting to skate so late was not a
problem -- what mattered were motivation and belief.
"I started playing football very late too," he said. "I
didn't start playing for a club until I was 14. If you're really
determined to achieve something and you believe you can do it or
you work hard at it, it's possible no matter how old you are."
Mansiz has said in several interviews that his dream is to
qualify and compete for Turkey at the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Russia. It was unclear on how his Slovak partner would qualify
for the Turkish Olympic team.
The pair are currently training in the southern German town
of Oberstdorf, near where Mansiz was born.
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