english ice-skater, born in 1957 in nottingham.

With her dance partner Christopher Dean, Torvill won ice-dance championships from 1978-1985, then performed professionally for nine years before returning to competitive skating in 1994, and, again, going pro in 1995. They won the Olympic gold medal in Sarajevo with what is still concidered the greatest performance in the history of Olympic figure skating. They earned nine perfect 6.0's for artistic impression after skating to Ravel's Bolero. The program triggered a movement in ice dancing towards dramatic, theatrical impressions which have been the sport's staple ever since. they also won the olympic bronze medal in 1994.

After turning professional, torvill and dean set the standard for ice dancing, performing in four of their own touring shows. In October 1995, the video of their enormously successful world tour, 'Face the Music', was released alsong with an autobiography, 'Facing the Music'. Since then they have released another video, 'The Story So Far'. In August 1996, Torvill and Dean performed in a PBS arts film with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.