I still can't believe how T&D were cheated out of the 1994 Olympic final with their Let's face the music routine. I think I know the routine inside and out now having watched it so many times lol, and believe they were robbed.

Weren't they accused of performing an illegal move?

Hi Sid, they were. It was the acrobatic flip over Chris' shoulder by Jane. My hubby reckoned it was done deliberately as they had their first tour in years coming up and it was controversial so therefore would get more interest

I do remember it. Their Original Dance (rumba) was easily the best but the two Russian couples had much better Freedance routines.

I think that was my favourite performance of theirs, I adored it

I remember it well and I loved their routine. Fab.

Hiya

Oooh now I'd say your hubby was being slightly controversial too!

He might have a point, although I remember watching a behind-the-scenes documentary on Torvill & Dean shortly afterwards and it featured them backstage at the '94 Olympics and they looked genuinely gutted by the scores they got

I think they would have preferred a fairytale end to their comeback and that might have given them even more publicity for their tour....

Their rhumba was the most breathtaking piece of ice skating I've even seen ians. I went to see them live after the final and looked forward to the rhumba (dance of love) it didn't disappoint. The two bits that stand out when they both get down on the knees and near the end when they do the backsteps - sheer brilliance!

Fair point, Sid

just for you ianswaiting and any other big T&D fans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19CYCcmA2Y0

I think they ended up getting more publicity from being robbed than they ever would have got from winning.

I think that's what my hubby was getting out Rebecca. He said that the public would love them even more and hence, buy more tickets!

I don't think they were robbed. The winners were better, imo, and didn't perform an illegal move.

Thank you, simply brilliant. It's a shame they didn't carry on to the Worlc Championships though, even though missing out on the gold at the Olympics as we would have been allowed to have two competitors the following year if they had gone

I think the British public probably got so used to Jayne and Chris taking the gold, which is why it didn't go down well. The controversy, as well as the illegal move, was that the officals for the olympics said they wanted dance to go back to its roots, ie conventional dance foxtrot, quickstep etc. When T&D's initial free dance was put together, it was classed as boring and staid so they had to change 80% of the programme. I think they were on a hide into nothing with the judges anyway and feel that their comeback was a mistake. Go out on a high as they did with Bolero.

The comeback didn't go too badly, they may not have won at the Olympics but they did win gold at the European championships beating the two Russian pairings who then beat them at the Olympics (it was very close though).

It certainly was close ians, I always wonder what would have happened if they had stuck with their routine and not made changes - gold at Lillihammer? Goodnight.

Actually the winners broke the rules more than once during their routine, as they exceeded the length of time allowed for the partners to separate but it was ignored by the judges and not penalised.

There are rumours around that at times in competition that the medals are sometimes decided before a blade goes on the ice.

It was actually said in the TV commentary before T&D did their free dance that night that they wouldn't be taking the gold home - the skating powers that be didn't like the fact that a professional couple had come back to competition and looked like they were going to wipe the floor with everyone else.

I recall some disappointment and criticism that T&D didn't compete in the World Championships.

Understandably bronze at the Olympics was a bitter pill to swallow but many felt that they put themselves and their interests first, effectively depriving another couple of a lifetime experience.

And they had social links with several of the judges, it transpired after. I loved the routine T and D did, Gritchuk and Platov never did it for me, especially Gritchuk when she decided to change her name to "Pasha" and only have that one name (like Madonna...)

IIRC T&D got over the length of Bolero by extending their introduction - as was shown on the documentary.

Yes you're right. The East deffo didn't want T&D to win, hence oh those Russians taking gold. I'm no skater but the technical content of Jayne and Chris' routine before they made the changes was really good and so intricate. They got sixes across the board in the National Champships to qualify them for Europe. Do agree though with teh poster who said that the younger couple were denied a place but that's the way it goes I suppose.

Yes lovely, that name change was very tacky, especially when she went platinum blonde!

Wasn't there a big change to the scoring system in the wake of that controversy too?

I do remember watching the performance with the disputed lift, weren't the rules changed to no over-the-shoulder lifts at the last minute or something??

They was robbed!