English ice dancer (born 1958)
Christopher Dean
OBE
|
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Dean on the
Dancing on Ice
tour in Manchester, 2010
|
Born
| Christopher Colin Dean
(
1958-07-27
)
27 July 1958
(age 65)
Calverton, Nottinghamshire
, England
|
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Height
| 5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m)
[1]
|
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|
Country
|
Great Britain
|
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Retired
| 1984, 1994
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|
Christopher Colin Dean
,
OBE
(born 27 July 1958) is a British
ice dancer
who won a gold medal at the
1984 Winter Olympics
with his skating partner
Jayne Torvill
. They also won a bronze medal at the
1994 Winter Olympics
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Dean grew up in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. When he was six, his mother left and his father remarried. Dean never talked about this with his father or stepmother, both of whom have died. He has regained contact with his mother.
[2]
From 1974 to 1980, he was a police constable with
Nottinghamshire Police
.
Skating career
[
edit
]
Dean began to skate at the age of 10 after he received a pair of skates as a Christmas present. His parents were keen ballroom dancers. At school he was captain of the football team and he saw ice skating as a sport that was athletic and graceful. Dean's first ice partner was Sandra Elson. They began skating together when he was 14 and competed as ice dancers for a few years under their instructor
Len Sayward
. However, despite becoming British Junior Dance champions, the team parted, as Dean and Elson did not get along well. Dean then agreed to practise with
Jayne Torvill
, another skater at the Nottingham rink. The pair were first coached by Janet Sawbridge but in 1978
Betty Callaway
became their coach.
Dean left school at age 16 and joined the Nottingham Police Force in 1974. It was challenging for him to undergo police cadet training, as his schedule often clashed with his skating training sessions. Thus Torvill and Dean had to practise during his off-hours. These difficult times brought them closer and gave them a sense of discipline that was to prove vital throughout their career.
[
citation needed
]
By 1980, Torvill and Dean had progressed to not only become British National Dance Champions but were in medal contention in international competitions as well. It was then that Dean made the decision that he could no longer balance his skating and police careers so he resigned from the police force. Torvill left her job soon after; this was made possible with a Nottingham City Council grant of £42,000.
[
citation needed
]
Dean also served as the chief choreographer for the Torvill and Dean team.
Torvill and Dean
's free programme at the
1984 Winter Olympics
in
Sarajevo
, performed to the music of
Maurice Ravel
's
Bolero
, became world-famous. They received nine 6.0 marks for artistic impression, (three more for technical merit for a total of twelve 6.0 marks) the highest possible score and the only time ever that an all-perfect score was achieved. It was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of 24 million people.
[3]
[4]
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.
[5]
[6]
Torvill and Dean turned professional after their 1984 Olympic win. Under then existing Olympic Games rules as professionals they became ineligible to participate in Olympic competition. In 1993 the
International Skating Union
relaxed the rules for professional skaters, allowing the pair to participate in the
1994 Winter Olympics
in
Lillehammer
where they won a bronze medal.
Torvill and Dean were admitted to the
World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
in 1989.
From January 2006?2023, Torvill and Dean have participated in the
ITV
show
Dancing on Ice
. Each season, the televised show runs from January to March with Torvill and Dean as "judges".
[7]
[8]
[9]
The show then migrates to go
on tour
to arenas across the United Kingdom. The show is scheduled to return in 2024.
In January 2012, Dean said he was open to working with the
National Ice Skating Association
to help British competitive skating.
[10]
Torvill and Dean were ambassadors for the
2012 European Figure Skating Championships
in
Sheffield
, England.
[10]
In February 2014, they visited Sarajevo for the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Olympics, and recreated their Bolero routine in the same arena where they won the gold.
[11]
In 2018, Dean choreographed the free programme of
Aljona Savchenko
and
Bruno Massot
, who won the gold medal in
Pair skating
with a world record at the
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang
.
Competitive results
[
edit
]
Amateur results
[
edit
]
Event
|
75?76
|
76?77
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77?78
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78?79
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79?80
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80?81
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81?82
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82?83
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83?84
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93?94
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Olympics
|
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5th
|
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1st
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3rd
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Worlds
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11th
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8th
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4th
|
1st
|
1st
|
1st
|
1st
|
|
Europeans
|
|
|
9th
|
6th
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4th
|
1st
|
1st
|
WD
|
1st
|
1st
|
British Championships
|
|
4th
|
3rd
|
1st
|
1st
|
1st
|
1st
|
1st
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1st
|
1st
|
NHK Trophy
|
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2nd
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St Ivel International
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1st
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1st
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Oberstdorf
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2nd
|
1st
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St Gervais
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1st
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Morzine Trophy
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2nd
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John Davis Trophy
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1st
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Sheffield Trophy
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1st
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Rotary Watches Competition
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2nd
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Northern Championships
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1st
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WD: Withdrew
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Professional results
[
edit
]
Professional programmes
[
edit
]
|
1984
|
1985
|
1990
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1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
World Professional Championships
|
Song of India
, Encounter
|
Diablo Tango, Venus
|
Oscar Tango,
Revolution
/
Imagine
|
Encounter
|
Still Crazy After All These Years, Cecilia
|
Take Five
, Hat Trick
|
Challenge of Champions
|
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Echoes of Ireland
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Still Crazy After All These Years, Cecilia
|
Take Five, Hat Trick
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World Team Championships
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Let's Face the Music, Encounter
|
Bridge Over Troubled Water
,
Cecilia
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Sarabande, Hat Trick
|
Amateur programmes
[
edit
]
Honours
[
edit
]
On 28 April 1983, Dean was appointed Honorary Freeman of the City of Nottingham. Dean was appointed an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire
in 1999.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Between 1991 and 1993, Dean was married to French-Canadian World ice dance champion
Isabelle Duchesnay
whom he met while choreographing for her and her brother
Paul Duchesnay
in the late 1980s.
On 15 October 1994, Dean married American skater
Jill Trenary
in
Minneapolis
, Minnesota. They had two sons, Jack Robert and Sam Colin, and lived in
Colorado Springs
, Colorado. Dean's agent confirmed in March 2010 that the couple had separated. He and Trenary remain on good terms.
[24]
He has been in a relationship with
Karen Barber
since 2011.
[25]
Dean also remained close friends with partner
Jayne Torvill
.
[26]
In 2021, Dean took part in an episode of
DNA Journey
to trace his family roots. He also appeared on
The Masked Dancer
as Beagle, where he was the fifth celebrity to be unmasked.
[27]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
Dean was portrayed by
Will Tudor
in the 2018 ITV biopic
Torvill & Dean
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Christopher Dean: Bio, Stats and Results"
.
sports-reference.com
. 17 April 2020. Archived from
the original
on 17 April 2020.
- ^
Piers Morgan's Life Stories
, 8 March 2013
- ^
"1984: British ice couple score Olympic gold"
.
BBC News
. 14 February 1984.
- ^
"100 Greatest Sporting Moments ? Results"
. Channel 4.
- ^
"Athlete Profile ? Dean"
. olympic.org. Archived from
the original
on 3 January 2006.
- ^
"Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill: how we made Bolero"
.
the Guardian
. 22 April 2014. Archived from
the original
on 22 February 2022
. Retrieved
22 February
2022
.
- ^
"Holly Willoughby to return to Dancing on Ice alongside Stephen Mulhern"
.
BBC News
. 28 December 2023
. Retrieved
30 December
2023
.
- ^
"Holly Willoughby TV Return"
.
- ^
"Strictly's Oti Mabuse to join Dancing on Ice as judge"
.
Digital Spy
. 22 December 2021
. Retrieved
30 December
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Williams, Ollie (3 January 2012).
"Torvill and Dean could return to help British ice skaters"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
3 January
2012
.
- ^
Sito-Sucic, Daria (14 February 2014).
"Torvill & Dean relive Bolero 30 years on"
.
Reuters
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean (GBR) ? 1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Ice Dancing, Free Dance"
. YouTube. 21 April 2010.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean Evergreen"
. YouTube. 5 January 2010.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean (GBR) ? 1980 Winter Games, Ice Dancing, Free Dance"
. YouTube. 20 December 2009.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean (GBR) ? 1981 World Figure Skating Championships, Free Dance"
. YouTube. 24 April 2010.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"1981 History Of Love Torvill and Dean"
. YouTube. 21 June 2009. Archived from
the original
on 10 January 2016
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean ? 1982"
. Torvillanddean.com. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2012
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean ? 1983 Part 1"
. Torvillanddean.com
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Torvill & Dean ? 1983 Part 2"
. Torvillanddean.com. Archived from
the original
on 31 January 2012
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
a
b
"Torvill & Dean ? 1984 Part 2"
. Torvillanddean.com. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2012
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean (GBR) ? 1984 Sarajevo, Figure Skating, Exhibition (Encore)"
. YouTube. 4 January 2010.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean ? 1994 Part 1"
. Torvillanddean.com. Archived from
the original
on 31 January 2012
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Torvill & Dean ? 1994 Part 2"
. Torvillanddean.com. Archived from
the original
on 31 January 2012
. Retrieved
17 October
2011
.
- ^
"Piers Morgan's Life Stories ? Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean ? Part 4 of 4 ? 8th March 2013 ? YouTube"
.
www.youtube.com
.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2021
. Retrieved
28 August
2020
.
- ^
"Who is Christopher Dean's partner? Inside his relationship with Karen Barber"
.
hellomagazine.com
. 9 February 2020.
- ^
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean: DNA Journey
- ^
"The Masked Dancer viewers floored as Christopher Dean reveals his age after being unveiled as Beagle"
.
Birmingham mail.co.uk
. 3 June 2021
. Retrieved
22 April
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Christopher Dean
at Wikimedia Commons
Awards for Christopher Dean
|
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1955?1975
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1976?2000
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2001?2018
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Scripted Programming
(2019?present)
| |
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Variety or Reality Programming
(2019?present)
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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