The British Olympic Association has today (Monday) announced that seven skaters will be representing Team GB at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

The seven who have made the qualification grade will compete across three different disciplines. This is a significant improvement from 2006, when only two figures skaters - John and Sinead Kerr – qualified to represent Team GB.

The Kerr duo will compete in the Ice Dance along with Nick Buckland and Penny Coomes with David King and Stacey Kemp in the Pairs and Jenna McCorkell (pictured right) in the Singles event.

Not since the most famous Brits to take to the ice, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, won Olympic gold in ’84 and bronze in ’94, has Britain found Olympic success in figure skating. But Scotland’s brother and sister duo Sinead and Jonn Kerr may change this.

Earlier this year they won Great Britain’s first major medal in 15 years with bronze at the European Ice Dance Championships in Helsinki, Finland. They are six time British Ice Dance Champions, finished tenth in Turin in 2006, eighth at the 2008 World Championships and are currently ranked seven in the world.

Britain’s number one figure skater Jenna McCorkell is also one to watch on her Olympic debut. Jenna is the current six times British Senior Champion, finished 9th in last year’s European Championships and 20th at the World Championships.

On her selection McCorkell said “I’ve been fortunate enough to have won the British title seven times, but the Olympic Winter Games is the pinnacle of our event. I’m thrilled to have been selected for Team GB.”

Andy Hunt, Team GB Chef de Mission, said, “This is the first team announcement we have made ahead of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and my congratulations go out to all those selected. As a nation, we have a fantastic pedigree in figure skating, and I know it’s a sport that’s close to the hearts of many people across the UK.

“I’m particularly pleased to see how our figure skating team has grown from two athletes in 2006 to seven this time around – and I’d emphasise that all of them have had to meet the tough qualifying standards that we established. I’m completely confident that the athletes we’ve selected will do a great job for Team GB and strike to achieve their personal best for Team GB.”

For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter games Team GB is likely to consist of approximately 50 athletes across six sports (biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, luge, skating and skiing) and 11 disciplines (biathlon, bobsleigh, skeleton, curling, luge, figure skating, short track speed skating, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboard). Currently Team GB has qualified 25 quota places in 4 sport disciplines.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games take place from 12-28 February in Vancouver and Whistler in Canada.

Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine