Jayne Torvill

Olympic medal record
Competitor for the  United Kingdom
Gold	1984 Sarajevo	Ice dancing
Bronze	1994 Lillehammer	Ice dancing

Jayne Torvill

Personal information
Country represented:	United Kingdom
Date of birth:	7 October 1957 (1957-10-07) (age 52)
Partner:	Christopher Dean
Former partner:	Michael Hutchenson (pairs)
Former coach:	Betty Callaway, Janet Sawbridge
Retired:	1984, 1994

Jayne Torvill, OBE (born 7 October 1957, Clifton, Nottingham, England) is a British ice dancer who with her skating partner Christopher Dean won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Early life

Jayne Torvill grew up in Nottingham.

Ice skating

She became hooked on ice skating at the age of 8 following an after-school trip to the local ice rink. In 1971 at age 14 Torvill became the British National Pairs Champion with her then partner Michael Hutchenson. After parting with Hutchenson, Torvill continued to skate on her own for a while before teaming up with Dean in 1975. After placing 5th in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, Dean gave up his job as a policeman and Torvill gave up hers as an insurance clerk to skate together full-time.

Torvill and Dean's free program at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, performed to the music of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, became world famous. They received twelve perfect 6.0 marks for artistic impression, the only time ever all perfect scores have been awarded. This is one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of twenty four million.

Torvill and Dean turned professional after their 1984 Olympic win and under then existing Olympic Committee rules their professional status made them ineligible to compete in the Olympics again. However in 1993 the International Skating Union relaxed the rules for professional skaters, allowing the pair to participate in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer where they won a bronze medal.

Jayne Torvill along with her partner Christopher Dean now star in the hit ITV show Dancing on Ice. The duo took the show on tour to arenas across the country in 2007, 2008 & 2009

Recognition

Torvill was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999. Torvill and Dean were admitted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1989.

Personal life

Torvill currently resides in Sussex, England, with her husband Phil Christensen who she married in 1990 and their two children, Kieran and Jessica.

Amateur competitive results (with Dean)

Professional competitive results (with Dean)

See also

• Christopher Dean
• Torvill and Dean
• Ice Dancing
• World Figure Skating Championships

External links

• BBC story on Torvill and Dean's Olympic gold
• olympic.org Athlete Profile - Torvill

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