Steven Cousins (born 24 May 1972) is a British former competitive men's singles figure skater. He is the 1993 Skate Canada International bronze medalist and an eight-time British national champion. He finished as high as 6th at the Olympics (

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

), 7th at the World Championships (

), and 4th at the European Championships ( 1996).

Career

Cousins began skating in 1978 after he and his brother pushed their parents to take them to an ice rink. Although he had a negative reaction at first ("We ended up going to the rink, and I hated it"), he eventually grew interested in figuring out how to jump and spin. He was also spurred on by sibling rivalry with his elder brother. Cousins is the youngest skater to win the British National Championships. He trained with Donna Gately at Deeside Ice Rink in the United Kingdom and then moved to the United States where he spent a number of years. In 1993, he moved to Canada and was coached by Doug Leigh at the Mariposa School of Skating in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He also worked with

Stephen Pickavance Stephen Pickavance is a British former competitive figure skater. He won the British national title in 1985 and 1986. Pickavance appeared twice at the European Championships, placing 15th in 1985 and 18th in 1986. He also competed at the 1985 Wo ...

and

Karen Barber Karen Barber (born 21 June 1961 in Manchester) is a British ice dancer. She is the 1983 European bronze medalist and competed at two Olympics with partner Nicky Slater. Skating career Barber won the silver medal at the 1977 World Junior Cha ...

in the UK. Cousins competed at three

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, nine World Championships, and nine European Championships during his career. He became the first Briton to land a triple Axel in competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. He was the British national champion for seven consecutive years before his streak was interrupted by

Neil Wilson Neil Wilson may refer to: * Neil Wilson (figure skater) (born 1978), British figure skater * Neil Wilson (baseball) (1935–2013), Major League Baseball player * Neil Wilson (athlete), New Zealand runner * Neal C. Wilson (1920–2010), General ...

in the 1996–97 season. Cousins finished higher at the 1997 European Championships and was sent to the 1997 World Championships. Cousins reclaimed his national title in the 1997–98 season. After finishing ninth at the

1997 Nations Cup The 1997 Nations Cup was the second event of six in the 1997–98 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Gelsenkirchen on October 30 – November 2. Medals were awarded in the discipline ...

, he withdrew from the

1997 Trophée Lalique The 1997 Trophée Lalique was the fourth event of six in the 1997–98 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris on November 13–16. Medals we ...

. He placed sixth at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

in Nagano, Japan. He was coached by Doug Leigh and Robert Tebby. Cousins retired from eligible competition in 1998 but continued to skate in shows, including touring with Stars on Ice until 2007. He has worked as a choreographer. In May 2010, he joined the International Skating School at Planet Ice,

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

, and Silver Blades,

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. He was the event manager for the 2012–13 Disson skating shows.

Personal life

Cousins was born on 24 May 1972 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He married Canadian ice dancer Kristina Lenko in June 2003. They formally separated in the summer of 2006 and subsequently divorced. With former wife Elena Berezhnaya, he has two children, a son Trystan, born on 6 October 2007, and daughter Sofia Diana, born on 21 June 2009. The couple's separation was confirmed in August 2013. Cousins has a home in Chester but lives more than half the year in

, Canada.

Programmes

Competitive highlights

''GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Steven 1972 births Sportspeople from Chester British male single skaters English male single skaters Olympic figure skaters of Great Britain Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Living people Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games