"It was emotional, but very uplifting," said Torvill.

The British pair - who wore purple outfits, just as they had in their final on Valentine's Day 30 years ago - had taken up the invitation offered to them by the Mayor of the Bosnian capital, and also the Mayor of East Sarajevo, to mark the anniversary of their triumph with a display to help raise funds for Sarajevo's hosting of the 2017 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.

As the routine ended spectators rose to their feet in applause, holding aloft cards bearing the perfect mark of "6.0" in recognition of the British pair's Olympic achievement.



Torvill and Dean's performance in 1984 made them the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme, receiving 12 perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s, which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge.

Torvill, 56, and Dean, 55, had earlier pledged their support for the construction of a new ice rink in the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which underwent a 43-month siege by Serbian forces between 1992 and 1995 in which more than 10,000 people died.

"We are so honoured and humbled to be invited back to Sarajevo to celebrate our 30th year since the Olympics and to be able to come back to the place where our lives changed," Dean told a news conference.

"More than anything we hope it will launch a campaign to get the ice rink built for the development of new skaters and for the success of their 27th Winter Olympic Youth festival [in Sarajevo]."

The skaters' return finds Sarajevo in fresh upheaval, with protesters taking to the streets daily to vent anger at the unemployment, corruption and political paralysis that has blighted Bosnia's recovery from the war.

"Thirty years ago, after we won the Olympic gold medal, we never imagined what would happen to us, you don't realise a certain day in your life can impact the rest of your life, and that day changed our lives for ever," Dean said.

Torvill and Dean en route to Olympic gold in Sarajevo in 1984 ©Getty Images

Choking back tears, he spoke of meeting again the woman who as a six-year-old girl collected the flowers on the rink and gave them to the two Britons after their 1984 performance.

"To personally hear her story from the six-year-old girl who was picking up the flowers and the subsequent life afterwards and today being here ..." Dean said, his voice breaking.

That generation, he said, "has gone through some difficult, tragic times."

"And yet now they are so hopeful and join us here today - that really brought it home for us today."

"Thirty years on, we are still here and we are still doing Bolero. It's been an amazing ride," Dean said.

"It was only after [the Olympics] that we realised that [Bolero] was so identifiable, people actually wanted to see it more and more, we haven't counted how many times we've done it but they are in the thousands," he added.

The flower girl from 1984, Elma Krasny, said she was overjoyed to see Torvill and Dean again.

"I watched them dancing Bolero this morning and my heart stopped," Krasny told Reuters.

"They are masters of the ice.

"This city needs something as positive and beautiful as this event is."

The venue at which they were performing, formerly known as the Olympic Hall Zetra, was among the buildings destroyed during the war and was rebuilt in 1999 and renamed Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch, after the former President of the International Olympic Committee.

A party of junior British international ice skaters also took part in the 30th anniversary gala.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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