Christine "Tuffy" Hough (born October 9, 1969) is a Canadian former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With

Doug Ladret Douglas James Ladret (born November 13, 1961) is a Canadian figure skating coach and former competitive pair skater. With Christine Hough, he is the 1987 Skate Canada International champion, 1989 NHK Trophy bronze medallist, and 1988 Canadian nat ...

, she is the 1988

Canadian national The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

champion and finished in the top ten at two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Career

Hough received her nickname, Tuffy, from her stepfather because she did daring skating moves. She competed early in her career with Kevin Wheeler, winning the 1982 novice title. Hough teamed up with

in the summer of 1984. The pair won the bronze medal at 1985 Canadian nationals and finished fourth the following season. In November 1986, Ladret sustained two skull fractures as a result of an accident while the pair was practicing a lasso lift at a rink in

Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 Canadian census, 202 ...

. Ladret stated, "The ice was pretty rutty. I put the lift up, and my right foot got stuck in a rut and down we went. I pulled Tuffy forward as I was falling; my first thought was to make sure she was OK. My tailbone hit first, and my neck whiplashed back." He started wearing a hockey helmet in practice but stopped after five months, finding it cumbersome. That season, Hough/Ladret returned to the national podium, taking their second bronze medal, and were assigned to their first World Championships. They finished 8th at Worlds, held in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in March 1987. Hough/Ladret's best season was 1987–88; they won the 1987 Skate Canada International and went on to win the national title as well. In February 1988, they represented Canada at the

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, ranking eighth in both segments and overall. In March, they finished 9th at the 1988 World Championship in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. During the 1991–92 season, Hough/Ladret won their third consecutive silver medal at Canadian Nationals. In February 1992, they competed at the

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

, France. They placed 9th in the short program, 10th in the free skate, and 9th overall. They retired from amateur skating at the end of the season. Hough and Ladret appeared as skaters in the 1992 movie ''

The Cutting Edge ''The Cutting Edge'' is a 1992 American sports-romantic comedy film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and written by Tony Gilroy. The plot is about a wealthy, spoiled figure skater (played by Moira Kelly) who is paired with an injury-sidelined ice ...

''.IMDB profile
/ref> and spent four years touring with Stars on Ice. Following a thirteen-year hiatus from performing, Hough-Sweeney took part in two seasons of ''

Battle of the Blades ''Battle of the Blades'' (or ''BOTB'' for short) is a Canadian figure skating reality show and competition that airs on CBC Television. The show originally aired for four seasons between 2009 and 2013. It was revived for a fifth season in 2019. ...

'', paired with

Tie Domi Tahir "Tie" Domi (born November 1, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Known as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets over a 16-year NHL career. He is the Maple Leafs' all ti ...

in season 1 and

Russ Courtnall Russell William Courtnall (born June 2, 1965) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings. Court ...

in season 2.

Personal life

In 1996, Hough married

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

general manager

Don Sweeney Donald Clarke Sweeney (born August 17, 1966) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman who played over 1,100 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), mostly with the Boston Bruins. He ranks among the top ten in many Bruins team statistics, inc ...

, with whom she has twin sons, Jarred and Tyler, born on April 29, 1999. She currently works as a coach at the

Skating Club of Boston The Skating Club of Boston is a not-for-profit figure skating club based in Norwood, Massachusetts. Founded in 1912, it is one of the oldest skating clubs in the United States, and a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body for ...

. She and her family live in Boston.

Results

(with Doug Ladret)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, Christine 1969 births Canadian female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of Canada Figure skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Living people Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Renfrew County Battle of the Blades participants