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 MARIKA HUMPHREYS is arguably one of Wales' most successful skaters. She began skating at the age of six after a trip to her local Deeside rink as a birthday treat and started ice skating lessons shortly afterwards.
At the age of 12 she began skating with a partner - Justin Lanning from Slough - which meant dividing their time and traveling between the two rinks.
After winning the British Ice Dance Championships in 1993, becoming the youngest ever winners at 15 and 19, the couple were the heirs apparent when Olympic gold medalists Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean decided not to compete at the World Championships in 1994. Humphreys and Lanning took their place but soon afterwards the couple split and Marika decided to take a year out of competition, during which time she founded the Deeside precision skating team.
In 1996 she restarted competitive skating with Philip Askew. Marika now has a new partner, her husband Vitaly Barnanov from the Ukraine. In 2000 they returned to the competitive scene, successfully claiming the British title for the first time together. And, in preparation for the Olympic year, Marika and Vitaliy travelled to America for training with Natalia Dubova.
"Our time spent in America allowed us to do two things, one was to focus solely and completely on training for a whole month, the other was to train alongside Israeli champions Galit Chait and Sergei Saknanovski. Both of these factors helped us get straight into the right frame for the season."
But Marika and Vitaliy almost didn't make the Olympics in 2002. The British Olympic Association initially excluded the pair from competing at the Salt Lake City Games after their disappointing finish at the 2001 World Championships but after considering a written plea by the National Ice Skating Association, the BOA reversed its original decision.
Humphreys had tried to get to the Olympics twice before and was delighted with a 15th position in the ice dance.
Marika gives skating lessons at her home rink in Deeside, one of Wales' two ice rinks - the other one being in Cardiff. The Deeside Ice Rink is part of the Deeside Leisure Centre complex in Queensferry, and is the national centre for ice sports in Wales. It boasts an Olympic size ice pad, catering for a variety of ice sports and activities.
But the site of the Wales National Ice Rink in Cardiff will be redeveloped this year with a £2.5m temporary rink scheduled to be up and running in Cardiff Bay by the end of August.
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