Joan Dewhirst (1935 – 14 April 2020) was a British

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

who competed in

ice dance 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 ...

Skating career

Dewhirst was born in Manchester, England. She began skating at age 11, and progressed quickly through the testing levels in figures, ice dance, and pairs. At the age of 14, Joan formed a dance partnership with

John Slater John Slater may refer to: Business and government *John Slater (industrialist) (1776–1843), (American) father of John Fox Slater, brother and partner of Samuel Slater *John Fox Slater (1815–1884), American philanthropist, son of John Slater ( ...

and within a year were the silver medalists in the 1951 International Ice Dance Competition in Milan (forerunner to the World Ice Dance Championships). Joan and Jack trained in Manchester with Jack Wake, and also London by Gladys Hogg (famed British figure skating coach of the 1940s-1980s). Shortly after the Milan championship, Joan and John won the first of their three British Ice Dance Championships. With partner

, she won silver medals at the first two World Championships in ice dance: in

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 ...

and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

. After retiring from competition in 1954 they spent several years touring with the Ice Capades and won the World Professional Championship 6 times.

Coaching

Joan transitioned to coaching in the early 1960s in Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham before spending decades as an elite coach in Altrincham. Joan coached many British dance champions including Susan Getty & Roy Bradshaw,

Karen Barber Karen Barber (born 21 June 1961 in Manchester) is a British ice dancer. She is the 1983 European bronze medalist and competed at two Olympics with partner Nicky Slater. Skating career Barber won the silver medal at the 1977 World Junior Cham ...

Nicky Slater Nicholas Mark Slater (born 6 April 1958) is a former ice dancer and TV and theatrical performer. Personal life Slater's parents, Joan Dewhirst Slater and John Slater, competed together in ice dancing, winning silver at the 1952 and 1953 World ...

Sharon Jones Sharon Lafaye Jones (May 4, 1956 – November 18, 2016) was an American soul and funk singer. She was the lead singer of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a soul and funk band based in Brooklyn, New York. Jones experienced breakthrough succe ...

& Paul Askham, Sinead Kerr & John Kerr, and

Lloyd Jones Lloyd Jones or Lloyd-Jones may refer to: People Sports * Lloyd Jones (athlete) (1884–1971), American athlete in the 1908 Summer Olympics *Lloyd Jones (figure skater) (born 1988), Welsh ice dancer *Lloyd Jones (English footballer) (born 1995), En ...

Recognition

Joan was awarded a MBE Order of the British Empire in 2007, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Figure Skating Association in 2016.

Personal life and death

Joan and John Slater retired from competition in 1954 and married in July of that year. Their first of two sons Olympic figure skater

was born in 1958. Second son Kim was born on the way to the hospital while on the M62 motorway. Joan's husband John died in 1989. Joan died on 14 April 2020 and is survived by her sons Nicky and Kim.

Competitive highlights

With

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewhirst, Joan 1935 births British female ice dancers 2020 deaths