Bidarge, Martin

Martin Bidarge was born in February 1999 in the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. He took up figure skating from the age of four, like all members of the family ^[2] . From the age of twelve, he paired up with the Czech loner Anna Dushkova, their mother was their first coach.

In the fall of 2012, they entered the international arena, in the category of novis (beginners). The following fall, she made her junior debut. In March 2014, Martin made his pair debuted at the Junior World Championships in Belarus , where they did not perform very well.

Realizing the complexity and performance in single skating because of the great competition Dushkova (she performed both in doubles and single skating) decides to bet on pair skating. At the Junior World Championships in Estonia, skaters have already taken eighth place. This, however, did not allow them to qualify for the Winter Youth Olympic Games.

In the fall of 2015, Czech skaters took part in the Junior Grand Prix and managed to qualify for the Winter Youth Olympic Games; they also reached the final of the junior Grand Prix series ^{[3] [4]} . In Barcelona at the Junior Grand Prix finals, Czech skaters won a silver medal in a difficult fight ^[5] . In mid-February 2016, at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Czech greenhouses won silver. They also entered the mixed team for team competitions along with Ukrainian Ivan Shmuratko , Latvian Diana Nikitina and the French dance couple Julia Vagre with Mathieu Kuira and were awarded the second silver medal. In Debrecen, in mid-March, at the Junior World Championships, the skaters managed to become champions in a difficult struggle, and at the same time exceeded all their previous achievements.

The pair began the new pre-Olympic season early in August 2016 at the junior stage of the Grand Prix in Ostrava , the skaters proved their skills and took first place ^[6] . In October, a Czech couple performed in Dresden at the junior Grand Prix stage, where they finished second ^[7] , which allowed them to confidently reach the Junior Grand Prix finals . In mid-October, a Czech couple made their debut in an adult tournament in Nice at the Nice Cup , where they immediately finished first ^[8] . In early December, in Marseilles at the junior finals, Czech skaters confidently took second place as a year ago ^[9] . At the end of January, Czech skaters made their debut at the European Championship in Ostrava , where they finished seventh, while improving all their previous achievements ^[10] . At the end of March, Czech greenhouses performed at the world championships in Helsinki , where they successfully debuted ^[11] . However, at the same time they failed to qualify for the Olympic Games at this stage.

Olympic season

At the end of September, a Czech couple took part in Obersdorf , where at the Nebelhorn qualification tournament , they finished in ninth place and managed to win a ticket to the Winter Olympics for their country. A month later, during a training session, Anna received a serious injury and it was decided to undergo surgery. Athletes will be forced to miss not only the stages of the Grand Prix, but also the national championship with the European ^[12] . In mid-February 2018, in Gangneung , competitions began in the individual tournament and a couple suffered a certain setback. They hardly reached the final part of the competition and finished in the middle of the second ten.

At the end of the Olympic season, a sports couple from the Czech Republic broke up ^[13] . Martin in the fall of the same year paired up with Belarusian figure skater Anna Abrazevich; they decided to play for the Czech Republic.

After the Olympic season

New coaches and choreographers began working with the athletes. This is Dmitry Savin, Martin’s brother Peter Bidarge and the well-known former Czech loner Tomas Werner .

Since February 2019, the couple began performing at international competitions. At the first starts, the skaters managed to earn a technical minimum for participation in the world championship. In March, they performed in Japan at the world championships , where, as a result of the struggle with the Italian couple, they finished last but one.

(with A. Abrazevich )

(with A. Dushkova )

• A. Dushkova and M. Bidarge (English) on the official website of the International Union of Skaters .