Torvill and Dean announce final dance on Olympic gold anniversary

Figure skaters Torvill and Dean have announced on the 40th anniversary of their gold medal-winning performance that next year will be the last time they dance together.

The duo have returned to Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where they danced the Bolero in the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will skate together for the final time as part of a UK tour in 2025.

Torvill told the BBC: "The tour is the celebration of our careers."

The Nottingham duo's 28-day farewell tour, called Torvill & Dean: Our Last Dance, will include two dates in their home city.

Dean, 65, said: "We felt it's right because 2025 is our 50th year of skating together.

"Even when I say it, it's a long time. I think it's the right time for us to do our last celebration tour around the country, but in particular in Nottingham as well.

"There will be a lot of nostalgia... we're really excited about it."

Torvill, 66, said: "We just hope people come and celebrate with us because the tour is a celebration of our careers and the last dance."

Her dance partner added: "I'm sure when it is the last dance, there will definitely be a lump in our throat.

"Every day it's a pleasure to be able to skate together. She's my best friend."

The Valentine's Day Bolero performance in 1984 made the pair the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme.

Judges gave them a dozen perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s, which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge.

The pair are marking the anniversary by returning to Sarajevo.

They will be visiting the original Olympic Village and are due to perform a 2024 adaptation of the dance they won gold for, along with 20 local figure skaters, at the Sarajevo Open international figure skating competition in front of an audience of 9,000 people.

Torvill said when she walked back into the middle of Zetra Olympic Hall 40 years on - the original ice rink was destroyed during the Bosnian War, but a building for concerts was rebuilt in the same place - it brought back memories.

She said: "This is surreal - this is where we took our positions for the Bolero in 1984. We were standing on that very spot, we could see where the judges were and where our parents are."

Torvill added: "We didn't know we would be talking about Bolero all these years on."

Dean added he remembered "waking up" to the roar of the crowds after their performance, saying "there was that moment when we realised that we won".

When they triumphed in Sarajevo, they were already international stars, having won the British, European and world championships.

But the Winter Olympics win prompted huge celebrations in their home city of Nottingham, with thousands flocking to the Old Market Square to welcome them home.

An area outside the National Ice Centre has since been named Bolero Square in their honour.

Ten years ago, on the 30th anniversary in 2014, Torvill and Dean recreated their gold medal-winning performance to mark the occasion.

At the time, the duo said getting the chance to recreate their famous Bolero routine after 30 years was ''exhilarating''.

Katie Kirby, an ice skating coach in Nottingham, said Torvill and Dean inspired her to start ice skating when she was a child.

She said: "Their performance was so innovative and ahead of its time - you could see the beauty and the art of skating in that performance.

"They did so much for the sport. Even now, all of my skaters have seen Bolero and know all about it.

"They had such a big impact and opened the doors to ice skating. People still look back to that moment - it inspired a generation."

Torvill, who worked as an insurance clerk, and Dean, a former police officer, gave up their careers to skate together full-time.

In the same year of their 1984 win, they were named joint Sports Personality of the Year at the BBC ceremony.

A decade later, they went on to receive a bronze medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.

Their final tour is due to start in London in April 2025 before ending in Glasgow the following month.

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