Here’s why people are talking about ice dancing vets Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean at the 2018 Olympics
In snowboarding, Shaun White and Chloe Kim are deemed as the GOATs. In figure skating, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, and Mirai Nagasu are highly revered ice skaters. But in ice dancing, there’s only one couple who is recognized as the best of the best — Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
The duo — who happens to hold the record for the highest scoring figure skaters of all time — is most famous for winning gold at the Saravejo 1984 Winter Olympics. They successfully garnered perfect 6.0s from the judges following their mesmerizing and now-iconic performance to the music of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. Since then, their winning routine is referred to as the routine of all routines. It also set the gold standard for figure skaters everywhere.
Now that the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics is in full force, people can’t help but look back on Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean’s glory days.
And even though the pair retired from Olympic competition, that doesn’t mean their presence isn’t felt in the Olympic rink. In fact, we were surprised to find out that Christopher Dean choreographed German skaters Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot’s routine! The pair ultimately landed a podium finish after an enchanting performance.
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I could watch Torvill and Dean all day. #WinterOlympics2018 #figureskateing
— Laura 💖 (@_laurajones0) February 15, 2018
Torvill & Dean's Bolero. As stunning today as it was then! #WinterOlympics #figureskating https://t.co/KnxL8G3Crm
— Cate Philbin (@cateinthecity) February 15, 2018
Figure skating. Torvill and Dean revolutionised it. It's great to watch. #PyeongChang2018
— Davis Harrigan (Digi) 🦁 (@DeadlineDavis) February 15, 2018
Seriously, it looks like Dean hasn’t lost his touch at all.
In her fifth #WinterOlympics, Germany's Aliona Savchenko, with Bruno Massot, earned the highest score ever recorded in pairs free skate. https://t.co/KX4CHmUTDT pic.twitter.com/VPIqvWHyQQ
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 15, 2018
Unsurprisingly, fans all over the world were left in awe after witnessing Savchenko and Massot’s turn on the ice. Some even believe that they are our generation’s Torvill and Dean.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/964133910652293120
Savchenko and Massotherapy: absolutely epic. The undisputed successors of the Bolero performance by Torvyl/Dean #olympics2018
— Oxymoron (@h4nn05) February 15, 2018
Btw, if you were wondering why Savchenko/Massot free skate was pure, choreographic, artistic perfection and nothing like you'd seen before, it was choreographed by Christopher Dean, yes he of @torvillanddean fame. THANK YOU! Once again, an iconic #OlympicMoment and program.
— R Chen (@ruthhcchen) February 15, 2018
Spectacular. Breathtaking. Flawless. Images of Torvill and Dean. Congratulations to Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot for a master class of Pairs Skating. Especially happy for Aljona and her quest for her Olympic gold medal. At last!
— Yvette Benjamin (@Gobat7) February 15, 2018
But Savchenko and Massot aren’t the only ones who have taken notes from Christopher Dean.
The skating master also lent a helping hand to fellow Brits and Olympic hopefuls, Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland. He even let them borrow a Torvill and Dean original!
We are recreating a routine that Torvill and Dean used when they won the bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics [in Lillehammer, Norway] and that's very special," Buckland told The Telegraph. "It's a really iconic routine in the skating world and we've modernized it and I'm so excited to perform it. It's just a huge privilege to work with him, hours seem like minutes when we are working together, it's so fun bouncing ideas off him.
Coomes and Buckland will take center stage on Monday. Seeing as they’ve been influenced by the same greats as Savchenko and Massot, we’re pretty excited to watch!