Jean Thomson Westwood (1931 – 26 July 2022) was a British

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. With partner Lawrence Demmy, she was the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for four consecutive years,

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

to 1955 (plus the unofficial trial event in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

), and European Champion in its first two editions in 1954 and 1955. They were inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ...

in 1977. She later became an elite-level coach in the United States and Canada (she had switched national teams, via a spell as skating director of the

Ice Follies The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson. In later ...

touring show, prior to the 1961

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Br ...

aviation disaster in which several former students and colleagues were killed). She was inducted into the

Skate Canada Hall of Fame The Skate Canada Hall of Fame is the sports hall of fame for figure skating maintained by Skate Canada. It was established in 1990 as the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame. The members are inducted into one of four categories that best represents ...

for her coaching services in 1997.Interview With Jean Westwood
Skate Guard, 7 February 2015Skate Canada celebrates Jean Westwood

Skate Canada Skate Canada (Canadian French: ''Patinage Canada'', lit. "Skating Canada") is the national governing body for figure skating in Canada, recognized by the International Skating Union and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It organizes the annual ...

, August 4, 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022Jean Westwood Obituary
British Ice Skating, 30 July 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022 The Scottish long jumper Alix Jamieson ( 1964 Summer Olympics) was her second cousin.

Results

(with Lawrence Demmy)

References

British female ice dancers 1931 births 2022 deaths Date of birth missing World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Manchester English people of Scottish descent English emigrants to Canada Figure skating coaches English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Naturalized citizens of Canada Alumni of the University of Liverpool People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College {{UK-figure-skating-bio-stub