From Football Star to the Olympic Ice Skating Ring?

Our own Baichung Bhutia wasn't the only footballer to take part in a reality dancing show. Besides the international acclaimed "Dancing with the Stars" there is another show called "Dancing on Ice" where stars have to do ice skating with former professionals. One such star was footballer Ilhan Mansiz in the Turkish version of the show. And now Mansiz, who started ice figure skating only a couple of years back, wants to go to the 2014 Sotchi Winter Olympics with his partner Olga Bestandigova.

If you think about it, it sounds like a crazy idea, but for Mansiz it has developed over a period of time. Ilhan Mansiz and his Slovak partner in the show Olga Bestandigova got to compete, then know and love each other through "Dancing on Ice". And Bestandigova, who took part in the 2002 Saltlake City Winter Olympics, wanted to once more participate in the Olympics. Her partner off the ice Mansiz liked the idea and the duo are now practicing in Obersdorf, Germany to get to compete in tournament ahead of the games.

In Turkey Ilhan Mansiz is not just another footballer. Mansiz was a national hero after scoring three of Turkey's goals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup which took Turkey as far as the semifinals. The season thereafter he was top scorer of the Turkish Süper League for Besiktas Istanbul. But Mansiz is born in the southern German state of Bavaria, so he knew from a young age was snow and ice was. And now he is back in Bavaria to prepare for what would be a dream come true if the duo can participate in the 2014 Sotchi Winter Olympics.

Talking about how it all happened Mansiz said, "We had so much fun and trained for between six and eight hours a day. We came on in leaps and bounds so we decided to train for the Olympics."

"I started playing football very late too. 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 added.

But the duo could face one major problem. Mansiz is a Turkish national, while Bestandigova is still Slovak; but the pair want to represent Mansiz's home country Turkey. The issue of nationality would have to be resolved and then the duo could be seen on the ice of Sotchi at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

And that would really be a fairy tale story, from a reality show to the Olympics...