British skaters look to emulate Torvill and Dean

As Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean prepare to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their legendary Bolero routine at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, Britain found themselves back centre stage on the ice dancing podium this week at the European championships with Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland. Coomes and Buckland, both 24, were not even born when Torvill and Dean won their Olympic gold but their famous compatriots helped to seal their bronze in Budapest on Thursday night. "We met them at the (London) Olympic Games and there were very nice to us and said they were following our performance which was very encouraging," explained three-time British champion Buckland. In fact the progress of Coomes and Buckland has been very fast since they placed just 16th at Europeans before the 2010 Vancouver Games - finishing sixth in 2012, fifth in 2013, and now third. Their success this week has been even more impressive as Buckland had just a few months ago undergone an operation to correct a condition known as tachycardia, which caused his heart to beat too fast. A lot of their progress is down to their work with legendary Russian ice dancer Yevgeny Platov, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and contemporary of Torvill and Dean, who trains the couple in New Jersey along with former British ice dancing champion Philip Askew, Coomes' stepfather. Amazed by the progress of the British pair, Platov said that the memory of Torvill and Dean would always be strong in ice dancing and close to his heart. "I don't think anyone can reach that level, even me and I beat them (Torvill and Dean)," Platov told AFP. "In my heart they will always still be above everyone, not only for their skating but for what they did for the sport, the level they pushed it too," the 46-year-old said. "Even after they stopped skating, they never really left it, they were still doing shows." Torvill and Dean were Britain's last European champions in 1994, when they won their fourth continental title before taking Olympic bronze later that year in Lillehammer behind winners Platov and his partner Oksana Grishuk. "I've met them (Torvill and Dean) a couple of times after the 1994 Olympics. Nick and Penny have met them too and they had some contact during the London Olympics and they have been very encouraging," said Platov. Platov also worked with siblings Sinead and John Kerr who were Britain's last European medallists in 2009 and 2011. The Kerrs retired after their eighth-place at Vancouver 2010, where Coomes and Buckland were 20th on their debut. "I met them (Coomes and Buckland) when I started coaching John and Sinead, slowly but gradually we started working together. After Vancouver it became full time," he explained. "The success of our couple has been really fast. When we're together we do great work. In three years they have reached this level which is a pretty good achievement. I'm so pleased to work with them. The results of their efforts you can see for yourself." International Skating Union (ISU) president Ottavio Cinquanta said Friday he was pleased to see former ice-dancing powerhouse Britain back on the podium. "I was particularly impressed by the third by the British couple and the comeback by Britain in a sport that they practically invented," the ISU chief said. The European championships are the final event for the continent's top skaters before next month's Olympics, with the team figure skating event starting on February 6, one day before the opening ceremony. Italy's Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte won ice dancing gold in a dramatic finale on Thursday night by just 1.10 points ahead of Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, who were deducted one point for a fall. Bronze medallists last year, the winners become the second Italian ice dancers to claim the European title after Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio in 2001. They scored 171.61 points overall with the Russians, who won silver in Zagreb last year, achieving 170.51 and the British, who opted for Michael Jackson over the classical music of their rivals, a career-best 158.69. "We love Michael Jackson and wanted to go to Sochi with something we knew the audience would like," explained Buckland. "We knew that a lot of teams would be going for classical music to connect with the Russian audience, but most people like Michael Jackson too." He added: "I feel very proud to be sitting here with a bronze medal, very pleased to have come all this way." Source: AFP