It’s been more than 30 years since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean danced to victory on the ice in Sarajevo, but the pair are still inspiring the next generation of British figure skaters.
Danielle Harrison and Josh Brown will be Britain’s representatives for the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival (EYOF) next week and the former says the chance to meet her heroes gave her extra motivation.
The duo form part of a 15-strong British contingent that will compete across four disciplines at the festival in Vorarlberg and Liechtenstein from January 25 and 30.
And 15-year-old Harrison, who is the British Ladies Junior Figure Skating champion, says she hopes the experience can help propel her to Olympic success in the future.
“The start of last year I went out to Sarajevo for the 30th anniversary of Torvill and Dean. I got to speak to them and hang out with them,” said Harrison, a torchbearer at London 2012.
“They are really nice people and what they achieved is just a great inspiration to us and we all hope to follow in their footsteps.
“I was just really shocked when I found out I had made the team. It’s just really exciting, I can’t wait. I never really feel nervous, more excited. I just want to go out and do my best every time.
“It’s going to give me a taste of what it is like at the senior Olympics. I hope I can do that too one day.”
For Brown, selection to the squad represent the culmination of years of hard work and the 15-year-old, who took silver at the 2014 British Men’s Junior Championships, wants to make sure he does his very best in the competition.
“I am very proud to be British and so to then get selected to represent Team GB at an event such as EYOF is a very special moment. It will be a unique experience,” he said.
“I have trained for this for a long time. I am really excited about being involved with the team. It’s a chance to make new friends and gain valuable experience.
“I want to do my best and put in two clean skates to hopefully get as high a result as I can.
“I hope this can be valuable experience towards further things like the World juniors and eventually the Olympic Games.”
© Sportsbeat 2015