Jayne Torvill

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Jayne Torvill, OBE (born October 7, 1957, Nottingham, United Kingdom) is a British figure skater who, with her skating partner Christopher Dean, won a gold medal in ice dancing at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Torvill 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, Dean gave up his job as a policeman and Torvill gave up hers as an insurance clerk to skate full-time together.

The Torvill and Dean win at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of twenty four million people. Torvill and Dean returned to competition and added a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Torvill was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1999. She currently resides in London, England. She married Phil Christensen in 1990. Christensen was an American engineer who had worked on Torvill and Dean's ice show tour.

Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill, being awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1999.

See also

• World Figure Skating Championships

External links

• [BBC story on Torvill and Dean's Olympic gold]
• [Care to Ice Dance? - Torvill & Dean]
• [olympic.org] Athlete Profile - Torvill

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