Tristan Cousins (born 1 August 1982) is a British former competitive

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 ...

. Competing in men's singles, he won a junior national gold medal at the 2000 British Championships at the age of eighteen, a senior international bronze medal at the 2004

Ondrej Nepela Memorial The Nepela Memorial ( sk, Memoriál Ondreja Nepelu), formerly known as the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in 2013–15 & 2017 and the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition. Named after Figure skating at t ...

at the age of twenty-two, and a senior national bronze medal at the 2008 British Championships at the age of twenty-five. He is the nephew of former Olympic gold medalist

Robin Cousins Robin Cousins, MBE (born 17 August 1957) is a British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980. He was the 1980 Olympic champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist (1978–19 ...

Early life

Tristan was born on 1 August 1982 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. His parents are June and Martin Cousins. His father is a financial adviser and the older brother of

. He has one older brother, also called Robin. Tristan began skating in 1990 at the age of eight.

Skating career

In July 2000, after successfully completing his A levels, Tristan joined the skating academy at Centrum Arena in

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

on the west coast of Scotland, under Canadian coach Kevin Bursey. In November 2000, the

British Figure Skating Championships The British Figure Skating Championships (known in some years as the ''British Ice Figure and Dance Championships'' and the ''British Ice Figure & Synchronized Skating Championships'') are a figure skating competition held annually to crown the nati ...

were held at the Centrum Arena, where Tristan won a gold medal in the Junior Men singles category. In March 2002, he qualified for the free skate at the 2002 World Junior Championships at the

Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre CC Amfi, also known as Nordlyshallen ("The Northern Light Hall"), is an indoor sports arena in Hamar, Norway. It is mostly used for ice hockey and is the home arena of Storhamar Hockey. It has also been used for short track speed skating, figure ...

(now CC Amfi) in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

, Norway. He won an international bronze medal at the 12th Ondrej Nepela Memorial competition in September 2004 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

. In January 2008, he won a senior national bronze medal at the 2008 British Championships in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. He retired from competitive skating the same year. Tristan worked for a number of years as a figure skating coach (NCCP Level 2 Performance) at the

National Ice Centre The National Ice Centre (NIC) is located in Nottingham, England. It is situated just east of the city centre, close to the historic Lace Market area. The NIC was the first twin Olympic-sized (60m x 30m) ice pad facility in the UK, "heralding ...

in Nottingham. He was a member of the coaching staff in the NIC Figure Skating Academy, working alongside his former coach Joy Suttcliffe and the Director of Skating

Gurgen Vardanjan Gurgen Vardanjan ( hy, Գուրգեն Վարդանյան, russian: Гурген Норикович Варданян, born 18 October 1963) is an Armenian figure skating coach and former competitor for the Soviet Union. He is the 1983 Grand Prix In ...

. One notable former pupil is figure skater Josh Brown. Tristan left the NIC at the end of 2014 to concentrate on his archaeological studies.

Personal life

On 10 March 2012, Tristan appeared in an episode of ''

All Star Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV (TV network), ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, ''#All Star Family Fortunes, All St ...

'' with his uncle

, his brother Robin and his two cousins Oliver and James. Their opponents were the family of actress

Dawn Steele Dawn Steele (born 11 December 1975) is a Scottish actress best known for her portrayals of the characters Alexandra “Lexie” MacDonald from the BBC drama '' Monarch of the Glen'', Alice Trevanion in the ITV drama series '' Wild at Heart'' a ...

. The Cousins family made it through to the Big Money round, where Tristan and uncle Robin took part, but they failed to win the top cash prize. He studied

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, where he obtained a BA in Archaeology and History.University of Nottingham, History brochure, June 2017 - page 12
/ref> Tristan has performed in a number of ice shows, for example in December 2004 he took part in an ice show in Glasgow which was produced by his uncle

Programs

Competitive highlights

References

External links

*
Official site of Tristan Cousins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Tristan British male single skaters English male single skaters 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from London