Jayne Torvill Christopher Dean By Edeliis Pttsepp Christopher

Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean By: Edeliis Püttsepp

Christopher Colin Dean …was born 27 July 1958 in Nottingham, England. His father, who was an electrician, and his mother were keen ballroom dancers. Dean began to skate at the age of 10, when he received a pair of skates for Christmas. Though, at school he was a captain of the football team, he considered ice skating athletic and graceful field of sports. Dean started skating with his first partner Sandra Elson at the age of 14. They competed as ice dancers for a couple of years and despite becoming British Junior Dance champions, they parted, because they just didn’t get along well.

Jayne Torvill …was born 7 October 1957 in Nottingham, England. Torvill became interested in ice skating at the age of 8, when she went to an after-school trip to the local ice rink. Torvill’s first partner was Michael Hutchenson, with whom she became the British National Pairs Champion in 1971. After parting with Hutchenson, Torvill continued to skate on her own for a while.

Teaming up Dean and Torvill teamed up in 1975, coached by Janet Sawbridge. As Dean had joined the Nottingham Police Force in 1974 and his schedule often coincided with the skating trainings, they had to practice during Dean’s off-hours. These difficult circumstances made the two of them closer and gave them a sense of discipline that played a vital role throughout their career.

By 1980, Torvill and Dean had succeeded in becoming British National Dance Champions and be in medal contention in international competitions. It was then that the couple realized they could no longer balance their skating and professional careers, so Dean resigned the police force and Torvill gave up her job as an insurance clerk to skate full-time. Nevertheless, they remained amateurs to be able to compete in the Olympics. Dean also began to serve as a chief choreographer for the Torvill & Dean team.

ACHIEVEMENTS Winter Olympic Games: - 1984 Sarajevo - 1994 Lillehammer World Figure Skating Championships: - 1981 -1984 European Figure Skating Championships: - 1981, 1982, 1984, 1994

Winter Olympics 1984 Sarajevo Torvill and Dean's 1984 Olympic free dance was skated to Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. The original composition is over 17 minutes long, so they had to have it adjusted to a “skateable” version, because according to the Olympic rules, the free dance must be 4 minutes (± 10 seconds). The minimum time that Boléro could be condensed down to was 4 minutes 28 seconds. They reviewed the rule book and found that they still could use the music if they didn’t place their skates' blades to ice for the first 18 seconds.

And the winner is… The couple received a standing ovation from the 8, 500 spectators in the arena and flowers rained onto the ice after they completed their stirring fourminute performance. It was an overwhelming victory for the British duo in an event traditionally dominated by Soviet dancers. The pair became the highest scoring figure skaters of all time receiving 12 perfect 6. 0 s, including artistic impression scores of 6. 0 from every judge. “I think it was the most emotional performance we have ever given. ” Christopher Dean (Watch the video. . )

Personal life Christopher Dean married French Canadian world ice dance champion Isabelle Duchesnay in 1991. They divorced in 1993, because Dean just couldn’t fulfill her needs. In 1994 Dean married an American skater Jill Trenary. They have two sons: Jack Robert and Sam Colin. Jayne Torvill married Phil Christensen in 1990. They have two children: son Kieran and daughter Jessica.

Torvill & Dean won the award of BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1984. They were admitted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1989 … and awarded The Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999. Thank you for the attention!