British figure skating duo set for Milan hoping to prove there is more to pairs
While ice dance has become as quintessentially British as four minute miles or old soldiers hurling themselves head-first down the Cresta Run, its more classic companion, pairs, has slid by comparatively unnoticed.
But having landed a quota place for next year's Winter Olympics in Milan by virtue of an unexpected 12th place finish at last year's World Championships, British team Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby are on a mission to prove there is more to their sport than step sequences and Bolero's.
'UK figure skating has always been about Torvill and Dean, so people see us together and assume we're just the same,' said Vaipan-Law, who grew up as a singles skater in Dundee before switching to link up with the Sheffield-based Digby in 2019.
'I'm never offended, because Torvill and Dean were absolutely incredible. But we're actually completely different.'
Pairs fundamentally differs in its requirement for acrobatic lifts and throws, as opposed to ice dance, which emphasises interpretation and connection. Whereas pairs has been contested at every Winter Olympics and even some summer Games prior to that, ice dance only made its debut at the Games in 1976.
The dramatic nature of pairs has earned the respect of Britain's number one ice dancers, Gibson and Fear, who will go to Milan as arguably Britain's best figure skating medal hopes since Torvill and Dean, having won a bronze medal at last year's World Championships.
'Our lifts are scary and he's holding on to me, so the fact of being thrown across the ice and landing, that takes a lot of courage,' said Fear. 'I always watch pairs in awe.'
Although ice dancing appears a more natural path, Digby said it was never a question of following the crowd when he came to terms with the fact that his prospective career as a singles skater was over.
'It was always going to be pairs,' he added. 'We both came from being quite good solo skaters and had already individually done the jumps that were required. The two disciplines might seem similar, but the elements and routines we're doing actually make it completely different.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Racing strike leads to battle lines being drawn in bitter dispute over tax reforms
Two days on from the out-of-the-blue announcement that British racing will strike on 10 September, the widespread media exposure that the move has received may already be worth significantly more than the loss to sport from cancelling low-key meetings at Kempton, Lingfield, Carlisle and Uttoxeter, on an afternoon when most punters are looking 24 hours ahead to the St Leger meeting at Doncaster. As a result, there is a raised awareness of the deep concerns about government plans to 'harmonise' the duty rates for online betting and casino-style gaming products, which could, according to modelling commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority, cost the sport between £66 and £160m in annual income. There will be further coverage on the day itself to add to the balance sheet, the races concerned will be restaged at other meetings to minimise the loss of media rights income, and the degree of cooperation required between the BHA and racing's two biggest racecourse ownership groups is also a positive for the sport. The response of the main industry body, the Betting and Gaming Council, to the news was instructive, too. 'Racing's decision to reschedule fixtures was taken without consultation with betting operators, whose support for the funding of the sport is mission critical,' the BGC said on Sunday. 'We are concerned that futile political gestures will only antagonise the government and frustrate punters, instead of delivering a solution to a shared challenge facing both racing and betting.' This followed hot on the heels of a suggestion by Michael Dugher, the BGC's chair, in a column in the Racing Post that 'any increase in costs gets passed on not just to the sport, through reduced spend on sponsorship, but also punters. That might mean worse odds, fewer offers, less generous promotions'. The same column also included perhaps the most absurd sentence to appear in the pages of the sport's trade paper since Fred Done, the chair of BetFred, suggested that cutting the maximum stake on roulette machines in betting shops from £100-a-spin to £2 could force him to close his entire high-street estate. 'Additionally,' Dugher wrote, 'the idea that betting on horseracing is purely a game of 'skill' and not also a game of 'chance' is nonsense. How many punters back a horse because they like the name or the colours? If betting on horses were purely a game of skill, how is it that a 150-1 shot wins a Group 1 at Goodwood?' Brighton 2.15 Twist Or Stick 2.45 Bee My Honey 3.15 Angel On High 3.45 Beautiful Dawn (nap) 4.15 Bear To Dream 4.45 Dandy G Boy Kempton 2.30 Della Pace 3.00 Allegresse 3.30 Tronido 4.00 Tennessee Gold 4.30 Uzincso 5.05 Fort Augustus Chepstow 5.30 Berlinetta 6.00 Queen Tamara 6.30 Savannah Smiles 7.00 You Are Everything 7.30 Jenni 8.00 Ravenglass Wolverhampton 6.10 Hayynah 6.40 Sporting Light 7.10 Dream Illusion 7.40 Sam's Hope 8.10 Glory Hyde (nb) 8.40 Team Player The weasel-word here is 'purely', because as far as I am aware, no one in racing has ever, or would ever, claim that betting is 'purely a game of skill'. Instead, skill is an essential element of the process. Every horse has its chance and its price, and the skill lies in judging one against the other. It is, in fact, the complete absence of skill in gaming that is one of the fundamental differences between the two. Taken as a whole, the BGC's response to racing's 'strike' action is informative, because it should leave no-one in racing with any lingering doubt that those traditional betting brands that many still think of as 'the bookies' are now just subsidiaries of global gambling operators, whose primary concern is the risk-free profits from fixed-margin gaming. The BGC wants racing to argue for no change at all – ie. 15% duty on betting and 21% on gaming – when that is the one thing that is almost certainly not going to happen. The government needs funds, the Treasury has already consulted on 'harmonisation' and gambling revenue is a blindingly obvious target for a tax hike. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion As a result, and as the debate over gambling duty rolls on towards the autumn budgets, the realistic best-case and worst-case scenarios for racing and the gambling industry are almost precisely opposed. For racing, any 'harmonisation' of duty, whatever the chosen rate, is the worst-case outcome, because it not only costs the sport revenue, but increases the incentive for operators to prioritise their gaming business in the longer term. The realistic best-case outcome, despite the sport's current calls to 'Axe the Racing Tax' completely, is probably a small rise in betting duty – perhaps alongside possible reform of the Levy to ease some of the pain – and a much more significant hike in the rate for gaming, to reflect the increased risk of gambling-related harm. The gambling industry would see harmonisation at either 21% or 25% as a huge let-off. It is the thought of a possible rise in gaming duty – perhaps to the rate of 40% or more that they willingly pay to access gaming markets elsewhere – that is keeping their CEOs awake at night. Racing's strike next month will not tip the balance one way or the other, but it is a long way from being the 'futile political gesture' that the BGC would have you believe. And if that organisation's chair thinks that a pacemaker getting loose on the lead in the Sussex Stakes means racing is little different from roulette, it is conceivably a sign that they are starting to feel the heat.
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Alan Roberts reflects on 'eventful' start after opening leg crash
But that is exactly what the 35-year-old Southampton sailor had to deal with in Kiel at the start of the 4,500-nautical-mile multi-stage offshore race. A collision with a competitor knocked Team Holcim – PRB out of the opening leg of the race, but despite suffering serious damage, they have been able to recover and will re-join the race in Portsmouth for the second leg. Roberts explained: 'It's been eventful so far. We had the incident at the start of leg one, we had a collision with another boat, which was pretty devastating. 'We had a pretty big hole in the hull, about two metres high and one metre wide, so it was pretty significant. We were taking water on board, but it could have been a lot worse, it probably could have sunk the boat. 'Luckily, we reacted pretty quickly. We have managed to fix it, we are in good shape now and back up to 100 per cent, but if the collision had been half a metre further forward, we would have lost the mast, if it had been 20 centimetres further down on the hull, we'd have lost the boat. It hit right in the spot where it had the least impact. 'It hasn't been the most restful time, but we're glad to be back in the race because it could have been a lot worse.' After suffering the collision, it was all systems go for the team, with each member settling into their role to try to ensure the race was not over almost as soon as it had begun. For Roberts, whose background is in naval architecture and boat building, that meant finding the solution to getting the boat back in the water as soon as possible. While he focused on repairing the boat, others looked ahead to the weather conditions for leg two, and a further group was tasked with mounting a protest over the incident. That will be heard in Spain by an international jury, but in the meantime, Team Holcim – PRB are looking to achieve their ambitious goals for the race. Roberts said: 'We're back at 100 per cent, so we are good to go. We should be a bit fresher than the other teams. It allows us a bit of extra energy, but it's going to be full on because the fleet is pretty close. 'There will be quite a bit of breeze for the first 24 hours or so as we sail across the English Channel towards France. We're back to our original goal which is not just to take part but to win. We're going to see what we can do in this leg.' Seven international teams, seven stopovers, 4,500 nautical miles, racing for the ocean. The Ocean Race Europe takes place 10 - 21 September 2025 and features seven British sailors across the fleet.
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Gordon Reid: Wheelchair tennis must keep proving value
But, while mixed doubles champions will now get one million dollars (£740,000) between them, the total pot for all wheelchair players is 1.69 million dollars (£1.25m). Gordon Reid, left and Alfie Hewett were beaten in the Wimbledon final (Adam Davy/PA) Reid and Hewett, who have won six titles at Flushing Meadows, with Hewett also winning four singles titles, have been a big driving force in the improvement in wheelchair tennis. And the Scot knows that needs to continue for the players to be rewarded more financially. 'It's been 20 years since we started, so in terms of the age of the slams themselves, we're obviously very fresh, very new,' Reid told the PA news agency. 'As much as we want to obviously see an increase and the gap in the prize money closing, I think we also need to prove that we're adding something, adding value to the tournament. 'Hopefully then those come hand in hand – the opportunities that we get and the prize money. 'So we just have to try to play our part, to entertain as much as we can and hopefully move that direction together.' The US Open is celebrating its 20th anniversary of wheelchair tennis and the British pair want to celebrate by winning their first doubles title there since 2022. They were beaten in the Wimbledon final last month, but know they are heading to a strong surface. 'It will be just trying to produce some of the level of matches that we played for majority of this year, really,' Hewett said about what it will take to win. 'I mean, the final at Wimbledon was the first match we've lost all year in the doubles. 'Obviously it was probably one we wanted to win the most out of all of them as well. 'We've been working on a lot of stuff that in our game that we're going to try and take on to the hard court. 'A lot of it worked pretty well in Australia and absolutely similar conditions.' Reid and Hewett have recently been back at Wimbledon holding a coaching clinic for Play Your Way To Wimbledon – a national competition with regional and county rounds, which sees winners get the chance to play at SW19. 'It's a fantastic event, giving anyone across the country, especially at grassroots level, the chance to play on the grass courts,' Reid added. 'We know how special that is. 'So to get to have that opportunity for so many people is amazing and having all the different inclusive categories is something we love to see.' :: Supported by long time Vodafone ambassadors Alfie Hewett OBE and Gordon Reid OBE, Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone, aims to make the game more accessible for all and inspire the next generation with the opportunity to compete on Wimbledon's world-famous grass courts.
