Bolero Cup: Torvill & Dean celebrate new Olympic stars at iceSheffield

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ICE dance legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are at iceSheffield this weekend for the first ever Boléro Cup - a new international competition celebrating the future of the sport, writes Graham Walker.  Amongst the world’s best skaters taking part are Britain’s new stars Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who are debuting their 2026 Olympic routine - a medley of Spice Girls hits and Scottish tunes.  The Cup is named after Torvill and Dean’s own 1984 Olympic gold winning Boléro dance when they became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme, receiving twelve perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s.  Torvill and Dean met up with Fear and Gibson at iceSheffield, marking a symbolic handover between generations of British skating.  Organised by British Ice Skating, The Bolero Cup , featuring skaters from around the world, began on Friday and concludes Saturday, September 6. Tickets and morr information at https://www.iceskating.org.uk/post/bolero-cup-2025-everything-you-need-to-know?utm_source=chatgpt.com  But fans will get another chance to see Lilah and Lewis’s Olympic routine in the city when they return to compete in the ISU Figure Skating European Championships in January 2026, at Utilita Arena Sheffield, January 13-18, 2026 - just before the the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Olympics, which starts on February 6.  Get tickets for the European Championships at https://www.europeans2026.com/

Transcript

00:00Ice dance legends Jane Taubel and Christopher Dean are being honoured at Ice Sheffield with

00:05the first Bolero Cup, a new international competition named after their 1984 Olympics

00:11winning routine. And Britain's new superstars Lila Fiat and Lewis Gibson are taking part,

00:18debuting their forthcoming 2026 Olympic dance. Fans can also see Lila and Lewis perform it

00:25at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships at Sheffield's Utility Arena in January,

00:32just before they go for Olympic gold in February. I chatted to both couples backstage,

00:38first asking Taubel and Dean if they really have un-upped their skates for the last time

00:43after their UK arena tour. That's it, that's all we're going to do. We've made a decision that,

00:52you know, we're of an age now that we shouldn't be skating anymore. You know,

00:57there's an old saying that leave the stage before the stage leaves you.

01:00We've got the Bolero Cup here in Sheffield. Jane, tell me just a little bit about that.

01:06Well, we still have other things that we're doing that doesn't involve performing on the ice,

01:11but we're very excited when we learned that the Bolero Cup is a new competition,

01:17new international competition. And obviously I'm delighted that we're going to be here to present

01:22the trophy. And then obviously we've got the other championships and then the Olympics and obviously

01:28very special today. We've got the next superstars of ice dance with us as well. How does it feel

01:36gliding in the skate tracks of Britain's Taubel and Dean? I mean, it's such an honour and, you know,

01:45like for me, I started because of these guys after dancing on ice. I think for us, it's been the

01:50example that they've set for us. What will you be dancing at the Olympics and will you be doing it

01:54actually in Sheffield? Yes, we'll be doing it all season. We unveil it here today actually. For the

02:01rhythm dance, we'll be doing Spice Girls and the songs are... Wannabe, Viva Forever and Spice Up Your Life.

02:08And then for our free dance, it'll be a Scottish medley. So it'll be 500 miles by the Proclaimers,

02:13Auld Lang Syne and The Bonnie Banks of Loft Woman.

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