Joanne Conway (born 11 March 1971) is a British former competitive figure skater. A six-time British national champion, she placed as high as 4th at the European Championships and 7th at the World Championships. She also competed at two Winter Olympics.
| Joanne Conway | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Joanne Conway |
| Born | 11 March 1971 Wallsend, Northumberland[1] |
| Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Skating club | Gillingham Ice Dance and Figure Skating Club |
| Retired | 1992 |
Career
editConway began skating as a four-year-old, her father taking her and her siblings to the local rink on weekends.[3] At age 12, she sustained a cut to her Achilles tendon in a collision with another skater.[3]
Conway was coached mainly by Carlo Fassi and also spent a summer in the United States training under Robin Cousins.[3] She would win six British national titles,[4] claiming her first at the age of 14.[5] She made her major championship debut at the 1986 European Championships, finishing 11th. She went on to achieve top-ten placings three times at the World Championships and four times at European Championships. Her most successful year was 1991, when she finished 4th at the European Championships and 7th at the World Championships. She also competed twice at the Winter Olympics, finishing 12th in 1988 and 18th in 1992.[1] She was the first British woman to land a triple flip successfully in competition, at the 1991 European Championships. However she appears to have had a balance problem, and fell on the ice frequently enough to earn herself the nickname Frosty bum.[6]
Conway retired from competitive skating in 1992 and turned professional, becoming a regular performer in the Hot Ice Show at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.[5] She was appointed head coach in 2005.[4][7] In 2008, Conway moved to coach in Spain.[8][9] After returning to the UK in 2012, she worked as a coach and arena manager at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Arena.[10] As of 2021, she is an estate agent in Lytham St Annes.[3]
Personal life
editBorn in Wallsend, Northumberland, Conway attended Preston High School in North Shields. She was raised with two siblings, a brother and sister.[3] Her mother worked as a nurse and her father was employed at the Fish Quay market.[3]
In 1997, Conway divorced footballer Gary Owers after five years of marriage.[11] She later married and divorced skating coach John Dunn, with whom she has a daughter, Saskia, and son, Haydn.[3][10]
Competitive highlights
edit| International | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 85–86 | 86–87 | 87–88 | 88–89 | 89–90 | 90–91 | 91–92 |
| Olympics | 12th | 18th | |||||
| Worlds | 10th | 10th | 7th | 14th | |||
| Europeans | 11th | 10th | 6th | 4th | 9th | ||
| Skate America | 7th | ||||||
| Skate Canada | 3rd | 3rd | |||||
| St. Ivel | 3rd | 5th | 3rd | 2nd | |||
| Nebelhorn | 3rd | ||||||
| National | |||||||
| British Champ. | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st |
References
edit- ^ a b "Joanne Conway". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
- ^ Janofsky, Michael (4 January 1988). "Olympic Profile: Coach of Champions Goes For More Gold". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Moffitt, Dominic (10 January 2021). "The Olympics to Blackpool Pleasure Beach - the Lytham skater who broke British records". lancs.live. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021.
- ^ a b Duke, Robin (3 February 2005). "Olympic skater appointed as Pleasure Beach head coach". The Stage. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.
- ^ a b Brenkley, Stephen (22 February 1998). "Winter Olympics: Whatever happened to Frosty Bum?". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
- ^ Brenkley, Stephen (22 February 1998). "Winter Olympics: Whatever happened to Frosty Bum? | The Independent". The Independent. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ Holt, Pauline (29 May 2005). "Freeze a jolly good fellow". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^ Robertson, Sarah (13 January 2008). "North Ice champ leaves the country". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ "Joanne Conway Figure Skating School". National Ice Skating Association. 25 August 2009. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013.
- ^ a b "Josh Whidbourne in solo appearance". Lambco skating. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ Robertson, Sarah (6 April 2008). "North skate queen's baby joy". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.