Skating legends Torvill & Dean return to Sarajevo on February 13, 2014 to perform their breath-taking Bolero routine – 30 years on from their historic gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Following a joint invitation from the Mayors of Sarajevo and East Sarajevo to visit the city to mark the 30th anniversary of their celebrated victory, Torvill & Dean will travel to Sarajevo for this performance in the same stadium where they won their Olympic Gold medals on St Valentine’s Day 1984.
The stadium, which was originally called the Olympic Hall Zetra, was destroyed in the 1992-95 Bosnian war. It was rebuilt in 1999 and renamed Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch, after the former President of the International Olympic Committee.
Torvill & Dean have invited a British team of junior and senior figure skaters to skate as part of this unique anniversary event on the evening of February 13. They hope this performance will inspire a future generation of skaters to take up this great sport.
The squad of eight talented youngsters from the National Ice Skating Association’s (NISA) Performance and Development Squads includes British Junior Men’s champion Graham Newberry, Junior Dance champions Olivia Smart and Joseph Buckland and Junior Pairs champions Molly Lanaghan and Jake Astill.
Also travelling to Sarajevo are Basic Novice Dance champions Mia Jowitt and Peter Beaumont and Junior Ladies skater Danielle Harrison – the youngest members of the squad at just 13 years old.
Money raised from the performance will be used in Sarajevo to build a permanent ice rink, ahead of the 2017 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival.
Jayne and Chris said: “We are delighted to be invited back to Sarajevo by the Mayors. It will be an emotional day for us and one which we are very much looking forward to. To return to the place which provided such a life-changing moment for us will be an exciting and rewarding way to mark the 30th anniversary. We will be taking a squad of talented young skaters with us to Sarajevo — a place which is very significant to us. We hope this will inspire them to become the next Olympic champions in such a wonderful sport.”
Nick Sellwood, chief executive of UK Skating’s National Governing Body, NISA, said: “We are honoured to be a part of this unique event celebrating the 30th anniversary of Torvill & Dean’s legendary Bolero routine in Sarajevo. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for our Junior skaters to perform in a historic event on the very spot where the last UK Winter Olympic figure skating gold medal was won in 1984.”
Torvill & Dean: The Perfect Day airs on BBC2 at 9pm on Friday, February 7, 2014. In this hour long documentary, Jayne and Chris recall the events leading up to their gold winning performance at the Winter Olympics on February 14, 1984, which had a UK television audience of 24 million people on the edge of their seats and became one of the most iconic sporting moments of the 20th Century.
The ninth and final series of Torvill & Dean’s Dancing on Ice is currently on ITV on Sunday nights.
The final Dancing on Ice UK tour opens in Manchester on March 28 and runs until April 27.
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