Christopher Dean
OBE

Dean on theDancing on Ice tour in Manchester, 2010
Personal information
Born	Christopher Colin Dean (1958-07-27)27 July 1958 (age 67) Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England
Height	5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m)[1]
Spouses	Isabelle Duchesnay ​ ​ (m. 1991; div. 1993)​ Jill Trenary ​ ​ (m. 1994; div. 2010)​
Figure skating career
Country	Great Britain
Retired	1984, 1994
Medal record Figure skating Ice dancing Representing Great Britain Olympic Games 1984 Sarajevo Ice dancing 1994 Lillehammer Ice dancing World Championships 1981 Hartford Ice dancing 1982 Copenhagen Ice dancing 1983 Helsinki Ice dancing 1984 Ottawa Ice dancing European Championships 1981 Innsbruck Ice dancing 1982 Lyon Ice dancing 1984 Budapest Ice dancing 1994 Copenhagen Ice dancing

Christopher Colin Dean,OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a Britishice dancer considered, with his skating partner,Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time.^[2] The pair won a gold medal at the1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the1994 Winter Olympics. They were also four-time world and European champions and seven-time British champions.

Dean grew up inCalverton, Nottinghamshire. When he was six, his mother left and his father remarried. Dean never talked about this with his father or stepmother, both of whom have died. He has regained contact with his mother.^[3]

From 1977 to 1980, he was a police constable withNottinghamshire Police.

Dean began to skate at the age of 10 after he received a pair of skates as a Christmas present. His parents were keen ballroom dancers. At school he was captain of the football team and he saw ice skating as a sport that was athletic and graceful. Dean's first ice partner was Sandra Elson. They began skating together when he was 14 and competed as ice dancers for a few years under their instructorLen Sayward. However, despite becoming British Junior Dance champions, the team parted, as Dean and Elson did not get along well. Dean then agreed to practise withJayne Torvill, another skater at the Nottingham rink. The pair were first coached by Janet Sawbridge but in 1978Betty Callaway became their coach.

Dean left school at age 16 and joined the Nottingham Police Force in 1974. It was challenging for him to undergo police cadet training, as his schedule often clashed with his skating training sessions. Thus Torvill and Dean had to practise during his off-hours. These difficult times brought them closer and gave them a sense of discipline that was to prove vital throughout their career.^{[citation needed]}

By 1980, Torvill and Dean had progressed to not only become British National Dance Champions but were in medal contention in international competitions as well. It was then that Dean made the decision that he could no longer balance his skating and police careers so he resigned from the police force. Torvill left her job soon after; this was made possible with a Nottingham City Council grant of £42,000.^{[citation needed]}

Dean also served as the chief choreographer for the Torvill and Dean team.

Torvill and Dean's free programme at the1984 Winter Olympics inSarajevo, performed to the music ofMaurice Ravel'sBoléro, became world-famous. They received nine 6.0 marks for artistic impression, (three more for technical merit for a total of twelve 6.0 marks) the highest possible score and the only time ever that an all-perfect score was achieved at a Winter Olympics. It was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of 24 million people.^[4][5] Since the time limit was four minutes and ten seconds and their music was four minutes 28 seconds, they began on their knees and moved their bodies to the music for 18 seconds before starting to skate.^[6][7]

Torvill and Dean turned professional after their 1984 Olympic win. Under then existing Olympic Games rules as professionals they became ineligible to participate in Olympic competition. In 1993 theInternational Skating Union relaxed the rules for professional skaters, allowing the pair to participate in the1994 Winter Olympics inLillehammer where they won a bronze medal.

Torvill and Dean were admitted to theWorld Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1989.

From January 2006–2023 Torvill and Dean participated in theITV showDancing on Ice. Each series ran from January to March with Torvill and Dean as "judges".^[8][9][10] The show then migrates to goon tour to arenas across the United Kingdom. The show was scheduled to return in 2024.

In January 2012 Dean said he was open to working with theNational Ice Skating Association to help British competitive skating.^[11] Torvill and Dean were ambassadors for the2012 European Figure Skating Championships inSheffield, England.^[11] In February 2014, they visited Sarajevo for the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Olympics, and recreated their Bolero routine in the same arena where they won the gold.^[12]

In 2018 Dean choreographed the free programme ofAljona Savchenko andBruno Massot, who won the gold medal inpair skating with a world record at theWinter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

On 28 April 1983, Dean was appointed Honorary Freeman of the City of Nottingham. Dean was appointed an Officer of theOrder of the British Empire in 1999.

Between 1991 and 1993 Dean was married to French-Canadian World ice dance championIsabelle Duchesnay, whom he met while choreographing for her and her brotherPaul Duchesnay in the late 1980s.

On 15 October 1994 Dean married American skaterJill Trenary inMinneapolis, Minnesota. They had two sons, Jack Robert and Sam Colin, and lived inColorado Springs, Colorado. Dean's agent confirmed in March 2010 that the couple had separated. He and Trenary remain on good terms.^[25]

He has been in a relationship withKaren Barber since 2011.^[26]

Dean also remained close friends with partnerJayne Torvill.^[27]

In 2021 Dean took part in an episode ofDNA Journey to trace his family roots. He also appeared onThe Masked Dancer as Beagle, where he was the fifth celebrity to be unmasked.^[28]

Dean was portrayed byWill Tudor in the 2018 ITV biopicTorvill & Dean.

• Torvill and Dean

Media related toChristopher Dean at Wikimedia Commons

• Torvill & Dean (official site)
• Christopher Dean atTeam GB
• Christopher Dean atOlympics.com
• Christopher Dean atOlympedia
• Christopher Dean at Unreality TV at theWayback Machine (archived 2010-02-20)
• Colonel Frank Seely School at theWayback Machine (archived 20 January 2008)

• 1958 births
• Living people
• People from Calverton, Nottinghamshire
• Sportspeople from Nottinghamshire
• English male ice dancers
• English Olympic competitors
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners
• Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
• Figure skating choreographers
• British figure skating coaches
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
• Olympic figure skaters for Great Britain
• Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
• Officers in English police forces
• Olympic medalists in figure skating
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists
• European Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics
• Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics

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