Jayne Torvill
OBE

Torvill on theDancing on Ice tour in Manchester, 2010
Personal information
Born	(1957-10-07)7 October 1957 (age 68) Clifton, Nottingham, England
Height	5 ft 2.5 in (1.59 m)[1]
Figure skating career
Country	Great Britain
Retired	1984, 1994
Medal record Figure skating Ice dancing Representing Great Britain Olympic Games 1994 Lillehammer Ice dancing 1984 Sarajevo Ice dancing World Championships 1984 Ottawa Ice dancing 1983 Helsinki Ice dancing 1982 Copenhagen Ice dancing 1981 Hartford Ice dancing European Championships 1994 Copenhagen Ice dancing 1984 Budapest Ice dancing 1982 Lyon Ice dancing 1981 Innsbruck Ice dancing

Jayne Torvill,OBE (born 7 October 1957) is a British professionalice dancer and former competitor. She and her partnerChristopher Dean are considered amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time.^[2] The pair won a gold medal at the1984 Winter Olympics, as well as a bronze medal at the1994 Winter Olympics, becoming one of the oldest figure skating Olympic medalists. They were also four-time world and European champions and seven-time British champions.

Torvill was born inClifton, Nottingham, England, and grew up in Nottingham.^[3] She attendedClifton Hall Girls' Grammar School and worked in the city as an insurance clerk atNorwich Union.^[3]

She became hooked on ice skating at age 8 following an after-school trip to the local ice rink. In 1971, at age 14, Torvill won gold at theBritish Pairs Figure Skating Championship with her then-partner Michael Hutchinson.^[3] They also took silver in 1970 and 1972.^[3]

After parting from Hutchinson, Torvill continued to skate on her own for a while before deciding to team up with Christopher Dean in 1975.^[3] On placing 5th in the1980 Winter Olympics atLake 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.^[3]

Torvill and Dean's free programme at the 1984Sarajevo Winter Olympics, performed to the music ofMaurice Ravel'sBoléro, which had to be cut down from 17 minutes to just 4 minutes.^[3] They received twelve perfect 6.0 marks, one of five occasions they were awarded all perfect scores for artistic impression. 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 and under then-existing Olympic Committee rules their professional status made them ineligible to compete in the Olympics again. However, 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 took a seven-year break from skating from 1998 to 2005.^[8]

From January 2006 to March 2025, she and Dean have participated in the ITV showDancing on Ice as "judges".^[8][9][10] Each season, the show runs from January to March and then goeson tour to arenas across the United Kingdom. In November 2011, Torvill said, "the standard each year has gotten higher and higher, which is exciting for us – to think what we can achieve with people who have never skated or are relatively unknown to skating."Dancing on Ice ended on ITV after 19 years due to a drop in ratings.^[8]

Torvill and Dean were ambassadors for the2012 European Figure Skating Championships inSheffield, England.^[11] In February 2014, Torvill and Dean 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]

Torvill married Phil Christensen in 1990, and they are parents of two adopted children.^[3]

In 1993, she and Dean were awarded Honorary Master of Arts degrees byNottingham Trent University for services to ice dance and their contribution to its development as a creative art.^[3]

Torvill was portrayed byPoppy Lee Friar in the 2018 biopicTorvill & Dean.

• Torvill and Dean

Media related toJayne Torvill at Wikimedia Commons

• Torvill & Dean official site
• Jayne Torvill atTeam GB
• Jayne Torvill atOlympics.com
• Jayne Torvill atOlympedia

• Living people
• 1957 births
• 20th-century English sportswomen
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners
• English female ice dancers
• English Olympic competitors
• European Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
• Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics
• Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics
• 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
• Olympic medalists in figure skating
• People from Clifton, Nottinghamshire
• People from Heathfield, East Sussex
• Sportspeople from Nottinghamshire
• Sportspeople from Nottingham
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists

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