Began skating 1977 Country represented Hungary | Retired 1995 | |
Skating club Budapesti Korcsolyázó Egylet Coaches László Vajda, György Czakó | ||
Zsolt Kerekes (born c. 1972) is a Hungarian figure skating coach and former competitor. He is the 1994 Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, a two-time Karl Schäfer Memorial silver medalist, and a two-time Hungarian national champion.
Career
On the ice from the age of five, Kerekes was coached by Maria Bogyo Loffler from 1977 to 1984 and then by Cornel Munteanu through 1992. He was a member of Budapesti Korcsolyázó Egylet (Budapest Skating Club).
Kerekes was coached by the Czakos in the 1993–94 season. After obtaining silver medals at the 1993 Karl Schäfer Memorial and Ondrej Nepela Memorial, he won his first senior national title and was named in Hungary's team to the 1994 European Championships. He placed 6th in qualifying group A, 8th in the short program, 16th in the free skate, and 13th overall at the event in Copenhagen, Denmark. At his next major assignment, the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan, he finished 10th in qualifying group B, 17th in the short program, 15th in the free skate, and 16th overall.
Laszlo Vajda was his coach in the 1994–95 season. Kerekes placed 6th at the 1994 Skate Canada International and 5th at the 1994 Trophée de France. He won silver at the 1994 Karl Schäfer Memorial, gold at the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, and gold at the Hungarian Championships. He concluded his competitive career in March 1995 at the World Championships in Birmingham, England; ranked 9th in the short and 11th in the free, he finished 10th overall.
After retiring from competition, Kerekes performed in ice shows and became a coach. He coached Manouk Gijsman, a three-time Dutch champion, in Zoetermeer, Netherlands; and Zahra Lari, the first skater to represent the United Arab Emirates in an International Skating Union competition, at the Zayed Sports City ice rink in Abu Dhabi.