Menu
10 Minutes with Kristen Spours
- April 28, 2022
Kristen Spours is a professional figure skater who trains and works here at the National Ice Centre. She’s also one of the skating stars featured in BBC Three’s Freeze: Skating On The Edge! We’ve loved watching Kristen on the show so we interviewed her to find out how she started skating and get her advice on where to start.
What age did you start ice skating?
My parents bought me lessons as a present for my 6th birthday after I begged them!
What inspired you to take up figure skating in particular?
I started because I watched the first series of Dancing On Ice and I fell in love with all the sparkles. What 6 year old doesn’t want to twirl around in sparkly dresses?! As I got older it became about the challenge skating offered me, there was always something new to learn or overcome, and the sense of accomplishment when I did this was unmatched.
What do you most enjoy most about skating?
I most enjoy competing. Everyone who knows me will agree that I am very very (sometimes too) competitive. Skating has given me the chance to use this while doing something I love.
What does a typical training day look like for you?
A typical training day will start at 6:30am and I will do three on-ice sessions, one gym session and one off-ice session, which can be dance or off-ice jumps. Normally I train five or six days a week, and then I coach on top of this.
How did you feel when you were approached by BBC Three to film Freeze?
At first I was a bit apprehensive because I had no TV experience and it was scary to share my life with the public. In the end, I decided to do it because I felt I had a story to tell and I wanted people to see the reality of how tough skating is, and the show gave me an amazing platform to do this.
Photos from BBC Three’s Freeze: Skating On The Edge and from the 2022 Triglav & Narcisa Cup, where Kristen came 2nd place in the Senior Women category.
What’s it like to see yourself skating on TV?
I felt like I had been on such a personal journey during the 18 months we spent filming, so it was really strange when suddenly everyone could watch it and share it with me. I think the biggest thing for me was when I started to receive messages saying I had inspired people with my story because I wasn’t expecting that. As far as I was concerned, I had just been being me and doing my thing.
Your experience of overcoming your spinal injury and continue skating is so inspiring, how did it feel when you were able to start competing again?
It was a really long and tough journey back from my injury, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world because I think it gave me a new freedom in my skating. I used to find competing very stressful because I saw it as life or death but when I came back to compete, I realised I had won just being back on the ice in the position to compete.
What do you like most about training and working in Nottingham?
I have enjoyed seeing the sport from different points of view and being able to engage more with the grassroots of the sport. I really want to help inspire and form the next generation of British figure skaters, and I am enjoying having the opportunity to play a role in this.
What’s next for you? Have you got any competitions coming up that you are training for?
I have just done an international competition where I qualified for the world championships and scored a personal best, so for me the upcoming goals are to win the national title and compete at the world championships next year. Most importantly I just want to keep enjoying my skating journey and see where it takes me!
Finally, as you teach here at the National Ice Centre, what advice would you give to people who want to try ice skating?
My best advice would be to get into skating lessons at your local rink to help build your confidence on the ice. Also, just have fun with it, skating has so much to offer you at every level!
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions Kristen! We can’t wait to see how you do in your next competitions!
If you’re interested in figure skating, you can find out more about how to get into the sport here.
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on whatsapp
