Matthew Parr’s Olympic “moment” lasted less than three minutes but he claims he will treasure every second.
Ever since his first skating lesson, the 23-year-old from Dundee has dreamed of competing on the biggest stage and, while there is likely to be no encore, he can have no complaints about his personal best score. Parr was competing in figure skating’s team event before the Olympic flame was even lit in Sochi and will skate again only if his British team-mates combine to make the top five nations – a tall and improbable order considering they are ranked 10th in the world.
But Parr did not seem too concerned that his Olympic experience may be over before the games have even officially begun.
“It couldn’t have gone better. My goal was to get a personal best and I’ve achieved that, so I’m very pleased and it went as well as I could have hoped,” said Parr, whose short programme score of 57.40 smashed the 49.32 personal best he set in the recent Euro championships.
“The build-up has been intense because this is what I’ve been aiming to do since I was a kid. It was a nice release to have finished and put in a performance that I’ll be proud of. This is everything I’ve ever wanted as an athlete and to be able to say I’ve competed at an Olympic Games for my country is a moment I will treasure forever.”
Ten men’s skaters took to the ice to open the first figure skating team event to be held at the Winter Olympics and four-time national champion Parr claimed a higher-ranked scalp to finish ninth.
David King and Stacey Kemp will return to the drawing board after their disappointing performance in the inaugural team figure skating event effectively ended Team GB’s interest in the competition.
The pairs duo followed on from Parr.
There was little chance of 10th-ranked Britain – whose team also includes Jenna McCorkell and ice dance pair, Nick Buckland and Penny Coomes, who will skate on Saturday – finishing in the top five teams who will qualify for a second skate.
However, when Kemp fell during their routine, it resulted in a deduction of one-point and disappointing score of 44.7,0 which ultimately left them bottom of the pairs section with one point and the British team bottom overall on three points, making tomorrow’s competition academic from a Team GB point of view.
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