There was high praise for two Sheffield ice skaters after they stole the show at the IJS Qualifier for the British Championships.
iceSheffield duo Katie Powell and Peter Hallam secured their places at the 2010 British Ice Figure Skating Championships after wins at the Lee Valley qualifier – catching the eye of Olympic legend Robin Cousins.
Katie is now ranked the number two British lady behind Vancouver Olympian Jenna McCorkell following victories in the senior and junior ladies events.
The 17-year-old, originally from Blackburn, now has a choice of representing Great Britain at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events.
Peter Hallam, 14, from Wincobank, won his second silver medal in the space of a month in the Junior men’s event.
It follows Peter’s recent silver medal for GB in Slovenia and he now has his sights set on selection for the 2011 Youth Olympics.
The duo were congratulated on their performances by Dancing on Ice head judge Robin Cousins, who requested to meet iceSheffield’s head coach Dawn Peckett after the event to offer his expert opinion on their new routines for the 2010 season.
Dawn said: “We were both honored and grateful to receive such fantastic comments from Robin and this now gives Katie and Peter new goals to aim for in the future. He was very impressed by Katie’s skating ability and her personal best score to give her GB number two ranking.”
The National Ice Skating Association (NISA) will stage the British Ice Figure Skating Championships 2010/11 at iceSheffield from October 21-27.
iceSheffield will also be represented at the event by Lee Booker, who skated a personal best score to win the novice boys competition, and Emily Hayward, who finished 4th out of 32 competitors in the novice ladies category.
Rachael Barley, Olivia Smart and Katie Powell’s sister Bethany also secured qualification in the Novice category.
Peter Morrissey, ice development manager at iceSheffield, which is operated by Sheffield International Venues (SIV), said: “The qualifying event was a great success for iceSheffield and it was fantastic to see so many talented young skaters representing the city. We are really proud of everyone who competed and look forward to seeing them in action at the British Ice Figure Skating Championships at iceSheffield later this year.”
