The day of Great Britain at the GUM Skating Rink

view all photos The day of Great Britain took place at the GUM Skating Rink to support the Olympic movement. London 2012 welcomed Sochi 2014 with colorful show «Ice Albion».

The day of Great Britain took place at the GUM Skating Rink to support the Olympic movement. London 2012 welcomed Sochi 2014 with colorful show «Ice Albion».

It is the third time already when London is preparing to become the capital of big sport in the coming year of 2012, and then to pass on this title to Sochi city to hold Winter Olympics.

Famous British figure skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean became the honored guests of Great Britain Day at the GUM Skating Rink. In 1984 25 millions of British citizens waited for the performance of their heroes with their hearts sinking. Their Bolero dance, that is popular until today, won all the «sixths» of referees and made a precedent in the history of Olympic awards in ice dancing. «21 years have passed since we performed in Luzhniki stadium with Russian stars in „All stars“ show, and we are looking forward to coming back to Russia to take part in the „Ice Albion“. Skating outdoors in winter, in the Red Square, promises unforgettable experience», the figure skaters said before their visit to Moscow.

Also among the guests there were Ambassador of Great Britain in Russia Ann Pringle, vice president of Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee Andrey Wolf and the head of BOSCO di Ciliegi group of companies Mikhail Kusnirovich. «… Great Britain will pass the Olympic fire to Russia to hold the games in Sochi in 2014. The Sochi Olympics will become the sports and cultural festival of the world importance… The great historical heart of Moscow — the Red Square — every year in winter turns into the outdoor rink. The Embassy of Great Britain will take advantage of this fairy tale for one evening of December 13 in order to hold a spectacular event on the rink with the participation of British Olympic champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and Russian Olympic champions. The peculiar feature of this event will be the performances of British and Russian employees of the Embassy of Great Britain», said Ms. Pringle before the party began.

The show hosts Ilya Averbuch and Tatyana Kononova presented to the spectators a mini-tournament in figure skating, in which the diplomats of the Great Britain Embassy and the Olympic champions in figure skating participated. The participants included three pairs with their numbers symbolizing three coming Olympics: 2010 (Canadian dance) in Vancouver, 2012 (British dance) in London and 2014 (Russian dance) in Sochi. In only 2 months the employees of the Embassy of Great Britain were able to prepare 3 impressive numbers, where for the first time figure skating champions made the Great Britain Embassy diplomats turn with dancing.

Canadian dance to Eddy Arnold’s composition «Red River Valley» was performed by the visa officer of Great Britain Embassy Joe Bedswot and Turin Olympic champion in figure skating Maxim Marinin. The next number was especially warmly welcomed by all English people at the rink. To Elton John’s music, the 2nd secretary of the Embassy Fiona Kushvid and twice prize-winner of Europe championship Povilas Vanagas performed the English dance. And finally, the third dance was devoted to the Olympics in Sochi. To «Moscow nights» song, the girls — employees of the Embassy entered the ice in Russian folk suits. The solo party was performed by the minister-counsellor for economic issues of the British Embassy Caroline Whilson and the world champion, repeated Europe champion Alexey Tikhonov. A real surprise for the guests was the dance performed by the professionals, world and Europe champions Margarita Drobyazko and Povilas Vanagas.

After the performance was over, the guests were offered exciting master classes in figure skating, games on ice and photo sessions with sportsmen. And for children who do not skate professionally, the VisitBritain Tourism Board of Great Britain held a drawing for a trip for two, so that one could see with their own eyes how the country is getting ready for Olympics 2012. The winner was Ira, the girl who performed the figure skating element «heron».