Ondrej Spiegl (born 10 July 1993) is a Swedish figure skater. He is a two-time Nordic medalist (silver in 2017, bronze in 2015) and a two-time Swedish national champion.

Ondrej Spiegl
Spiegl at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy
Native nameOndřej Spiegl
Born (1993-07-10) 10 July 1993 (age 31)
Brno, Czech Republic
HometownStockholm, Sweden
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Figure skating career
CountrySweden
CoachAlan Spiegl, Moa Lindgren
Skating clubEskilstuna FSC
Began skating1996

Spiegl holds a Master's degree in sports science. Following his figure skating career, he has authored several research papers on the biomechanics of figure skating landing impact and the effects of various blade and boot models. In 2022, he founded Blade Science, a company that designs and manufactures figure skating blades with shock-absorbing capability.

Personal life

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Ondřej Spiegl was born on 10 July 1993 in Brno, Czech Republic.[1] He is the son of Vera and Alan Spiegl, a former pair skater who competed with his sister, Ingrid Spieglová, for Czechoslovakia.[2] He has a younger brother, Lukas, who also practiced figure skating.[3][4]

After living in Austria and the Czech Republic, Spiegl moved with his family to Sweden at the age of seven years and later became a Swedish citizen.[5]

Spiegl received his Bachelor's degree in Sports from Masaryk University in 2015 (Brno, Czech Republic), followed by a Master's degree in sports science from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Science in Stockholm, Sweden in 2017.

Career

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Having begun learning to skate in Austria in 1996, Spiegl practiced in the Czech Republic from the age of five years and in Sweden from age seven.[4][5] He debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in 2009 and placed 27th at the 2011 World Junior Championships in Gangneung, South Korea.

In October 2011, Spiegl competed for the first time on the senior level, at the 2011 Coupe Internationale de Nice, but he continued appearing on the junior level until the end of the 2012–13 season. He finished 28th at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy.

In the 2014–15 season, Spiegl won his first senior national title, ahead of Marcus Björk, and took the bronze medal at the 2015 Nordic Championships.

In 2015–16, Spiegl successfully defended his national title, outscoring Illya Solomin. He underwent surgery on both of his knees.[2]

Post-competitive career

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Following the 2016-2017 season, Spiegl turned professional and performed for Willy Bietak Productions on Royal Caribbean cruise ships in ice shows from 2017 to 2019.[6]

Spiegl also began research at the University of GIH, Stockholm, Sweden, focusing on landing impacts and injury prevention for figure skaters. This led to several grants from various universities and research organizations.[7] In 2019, Spiegl and his colleagues at GIH published their initial findings in the Footwear Science journal, detailing the effects of different figure skating boots on landing impact loads.[8]

In 2021 and 2022, Spiegl and his team published two further studies on how different ice skating blades affect landing impact and jump take-off. They also developed and tested a prototype blade with integrated shock absorbers with the aim of reducing forces that contribute to the frequent overuse injuries seen in figure skaters. They found that the prototype blade decreased the landing load compared to conventional blades without affecting jump height.[9][10] Following the studies, Spiegl founded the Blade Science company in Brno, Czech Republic to manufacture the new blades. The company received support from the South Moravian Innovation Centre.[11]

Programs

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Season Short program Free skating
2016–17
[1][12]
  • Tribal Music
    by Masala
  • Let's Do This
    by Johan Liljedahl
2014–16
[12]
  • Swan Lake Reloaded
    by Salem Al Fakir, Moneybrother, Lune,
    Adiam Dymott, PH3 and Skizz,
    Mario Perez Amigo, Simsoak
2013–14
[3]
  • Torn
    by Nathan Lanier
  • Resolve
    by Nathan Lanier
  • Plunkett & Macleane
    by Craig Armstrong
    • Rochester
    • Business
  • Finding Beauty
    by Craig Armstrong
  • Grenade
    by Bruno Mars
2011–13
[13][14]
2010–11
[15]
  • Transformers
    by Steve Jablonsky

Competitive highlights

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CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[16]
Event 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17
CS Lombardia 8th
CS Warsaw Cup WD
Cup of Nice 22nd 16th 5th
FBMA Trophy 1st
Nebelhorn Trophy 21st
Nordics 4th 3rd 2nd
NRW Trophy 9th 11th
Universiade 14th 22nd
Warsaw Cup 10th
International: Junior[16]
Junior Worlds 27th 28th
JGP Croatia 15th
JGP Italy 15th
JGP Romania 9th 13th
JGP Slovenia 15th
JGP Turkey 17th
JGP UK 10th
Nordics 2nd J 2nd J
NRW Trophy 9th J 10th J
Seibt Memorial 1st J
National[12]
Swedish Champ. 1st J 1st J 5th 2nd 1st 1st 2nd
J = Junior level

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ondrej SPIEGL: 2016/2017". International Skating Union.
  2. ^ a b Persson, Robin (22 January 2016). "Ondrej besegrade tvivlarna – drömmer om OS" [Ondrej defeated the doubters – dreaming of the Olympics] (in Swedish). Sveriges television SVT.
  3. ^ a b "Ondrej SPIEGL: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ a b "Ondrej Spiegl". Skate Sweden. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  5. ^ a b Björn, Thomas (7 June 2016). "Ondrej Spiegl" (in Swedish). Skate Sweden.
  6. ^ "Camp information". Alan's Skating Camp. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  7. ^ "Ny svensk skena kan minska skaderisker för konståkare". www.skatesweden.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  8. ^ Spiegl, Ondrej; Tarassova, Olga; Arndt, Anton (2019-05-04). "The effects of new Edea and Graf figure skating boots and used Graf boots on the kinetics and kinematics of landing after simulated on-ice jumps". Footwear Science. 11 (2): 121–129. doi:10.1080/19424280.2018.1539126. ISSN 1942-4280.
  9. ^ Spiegl, Ondrej; Tarassova, Olga; Lundgren, Lina E.; Neuman, Daniel; Arndt, Anton (2022-05-17). "Comparison of lightweight and traditional figure skating blades, a prototype blade with integrated damping system and a running shoe in simulated figure skating landings and vertical countermovement jumps, and evaluation of dampening properties of the prototype blade". Sports Biomechanics: 1–22. doi:10.1080/14763141.2022.2063757. ISSN 1476-3141.
  10. ^ Spiegl, Ondrej; Tarassova, Olga; Lundgren, Lina E.; Arndt, Anton (2021-07-01). "Comparison of lightweight and traditional figure skating blades, a prototype blade with integrated damping system and a running shoe in simulated figure skating landings and take-offs". Footwear Science. 13 (sup1): S53–S55. doi:10.1080/19424280.2021.1917678. ISSN 1942-4280.
  11. ^ "BladeScience: Tlumené ostří". www.jic.cz (in Czech). 9 October 2023. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  12. ^ a b c "Ondrej Spiegl: Statistik" [Ondrej Spiegl: Statistics] (in Swedish). Skate Sweden. Archived from the original on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  13. ^ "Ondrej SPIEGL: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Ondrej SPIEGL: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. ^ "Ondrej SPIEGL: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ^ a b "Competition Results: Ondrej SPIEGL". International Skating Union.
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