Jayne Torvill,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 7 October 1957) is a British professional

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. A ...

and former competitor. She and her partner

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal ...

are considered amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

, as well as a bronze medal at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, becoming one of the oldest figure skating Olympic medalists. They were also four-time world and European champions and seven-time British champions.

Early life

Torvill was born in

Clifton, Nottingham Clifton is a suburb and historic manor in the city of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 22,936. Clifton has two council wards in the City of Nottingham (Clifton West and Clifton East as of ...

, England, and grew up in Nottingham. She attended Clifton Hall Girls' Grammar School and worked in the city as an insurance clerk at

Norwich Union Norwich Union was the name of insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. On 29 April 2008, Aviva a ...

Ice dance career

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 the British Pairs Figure Skating Championship with her then-partner Michael Hutchinson. They also took silver in 1970 and 1972. After parting from Hutchinson, Torvill continued to skate on her own for a while before deciding to team up with Christopher Dean in 1975. On placing 5th in the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

at Lake 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. Jayne_Torvill_and_Christopher_Dean_-_Dancing_on_Ice_2011

Jayne_Torvill_and_Christopher_Dean_-_Dancing_on_Ice_2011

Torvill and Dean Torvill and Dean ( Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are British ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold and became the highest-scoring figure skat ...

's free programme at the 1984

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

Winter Olympics, performed to the music of Maurice Ravel's ''

Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. It is one of Ravel's most famous compositions. It was also one of his last completed works before illness diminished his ability to write music. Composition T ...

'', which had to be cut down from 17 minutes to just 4 minutes. 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. 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. 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 the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

relaxed the rules for professional skaters, allowing the pair to participate in the

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

where they won a bronze medal. Torvill took a seven-year break from skating from 1998 to 2005. From January 2006 to March 2025, she and Dean have participated in the ITV show ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...

'' as "judges". Each season, the show runs from January to March and then goes on 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. Torvill and Dean were ambassadors for the 2012 European Figure Skating Championships in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. 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.

Personal life

Torvill married Phil Christensen in 1990, and they are parents of two children. In 1993, she and Dean were awarded Honorary Master of Arts degrees by

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

for services to ice dance and their contribution to its development as a creative art.

Competitive results

Pair skating with Hutchinson

Amateur results with Dean

Professional results with Dean

Professional programmes

Amateur programmes

In popular culture

Torvill was portrayed by Poppy Lee Friar in the 2018 biopic '' Torvill & Dean''.

References

External links

Torvill & Dean official site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torvill, Jayne 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