Robin John Cousins MBE (born 17 August 1957) is a British former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

who was

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just a single award of the same name. Several new awards have been introduced, and cu ...

in 1980. He was the 1980 Olympic champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist (1978–1980) and four-time British national champion (1977–1980), winning all of these titles during his amateur career. He followed this with a successful career as a professional figure skater and later starred in ice shows as well as producing several of his own. He is able to spin in either direction, both clockwise and anti-clockwise, which is an unusual skill for a figure skater. Off the ice, Cousins has commentated on figure skating events for the BBC, and he assumed the position of head judge on ITV's ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...

'' show from 2006 to 2014. He has also appeared in theatre productions, including the West End.

Early life

Robin Cousins was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

to Jo, a secretary, and Fred, a civil servant, who was formerly a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Millwall F.C. Cousins has two older brothers, Martin and Nick. He attended Henbury School but left at the age of 15. Cousins first stepped onto the ice at age six at Westover Road Ice Rink while on holiday in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. Having enjoyed the experience, he requested lessons for Christmas eighteen months later. As a young skater, Cousins trained in

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

at the same time as singles. His first coach was Pamela Davies. He was later coached by Gladys Hogg at Queens Ice Rink and then by Carlo Fassi. Cousins left school at the age of sixteen to focus on figure skating. In 1974, he moved alone from Bristol to London, where he would live in a small apartment that "amounted to a converted closet." He found a job stacking shelves at Whiteley's department store.

Competitive career

Cousins won his first national title in 1969, aged 12, at novice level. By the age of 14, he was Britain's junior champion, and he made his international debut that same year. Cousins represented the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as an amateur figure skater for eight years. He won the British National Senior Championships for four consecutive years (1977–1980); the free skating portion of the World Championships three times (1978–1980); and the silver medal at the World Championships in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. He reached the pinnacle of his amateur career by winning gold medals both in the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

and in the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held in ...

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

, in 1980. At the Olympics, he was in second place behind

Jan Hoffman Jan Hoffman (11 June 1906 – 25 October 1995) was a Polish pianist and music educator. Biography Jan Hoffman was born in Kraków and studied with Józef Śliwiński and Wiktor Łabuński at the Conservatory of Music in Kraków, receiving a dipl ...

after the compulsory figures and the short programme. Cousins skated a spectacular long programme, receiving 5.9/6.0 from eight of the nine judges for artistic impression. Hoffmann skated a technically superior performance, but six out of nine judges gave first place to Cousins, giving him the overall win and the gold medal. He was voted

for 1980. Cousins never won a world title; figure skating historian James R. Hines states that it was due to his weakness in

compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

, although "his strength was always in

free skating The free skating segment of figure skating, also called the free skate and the long program, is the second of two segments of competitions, skated after the short program. Its duration, across all disciplines, is four minutes for senior skaters ...

". He turned professional in 1980 and went on to win the World Professional Men's Figure Skating Championships twice (1985 and 1987) and was a World Professional singles medalist four times (1986, 1990, 1991, 1992).

Later career

After turning professional in 1980, Cousins starred in various professional skating shows such as '' Holiday on Ice'' and ''

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

'', whilst continuing to be a regular competitor in the World Professional Championships. Hines stated that Cousins' "flair and talent served him well" as a professional. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) for services to ice skating in the 1980 Birthday Honours. He hit both the longest

Axel jump The Axel jump or Axel Paulsen jump, named after its inventor, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump performed in figure skating. It is the sport's oldest and most difficult jump, and the only basic jump in competition with a for ...

and the longest back flip on figure skates in the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

, reaching 5.81 metres (19 ft 1 in) and 5.48 metres (18 ft) on 16 November 1983. In 1983, Cousins formed his own ice skating performance company, which toured the world with professional ice shows ''Electric Ice'' and ''Ice Majesty''. He has starred in, produced, directed, and/or choreographed many international TV ice shows, including ''The Nutcracker: A Fantasy on Ice'', ''Sleeping Beauty on Ice'', ''The Wizard of Oz on Ice'', ''Toy Story on Ice'',

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's '' Starlight Express on Ice'', numerous productions for ''Holiday on Ice'', and the film '' The Cutting Edge''. Over several years, Cousins has been a regular guest presenter and commentator for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, for the European and

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

and the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held i ...

. He appeared as the head judge on the show ''

'' in each series from 2006 to 2014, but did not return to the show when it was revived in 2018. Cousins has also performed on stage. He played the Prince in

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...

's ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'', Munkustrap in ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', Frank N Furter in ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...

'', Teen Angel in Grease, and Billy Flynn in Chicago in the West End. He has performed

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

, playing Jack Frost in ''Santa Clause the return of Jack Frost'' at the Mayflower Theatre,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. Prior to this he played the Prince in ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' at the Grand Opera House,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Cousins has worked with the British

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...

team. In 2005, he was inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located at the Broadmoor Resort in Co ...

. In March 2016, Cousins joined the Art of the Olympians (AOTO) program. In May 2021, Cousins was elected as Vice Chair of the British Ice Skating board for a 4-year term and appointed as its President.

Personal life

Cousins has undergone a total of eight operations, including a knee replacement in his fifties. His problems began at the 1974 World Championships, where he withdrew before the event started and returned to Bristol to have his first of two meniscus operations. The second came immediately after the 1977 World Championships when his left knee cartilage ripped and locked in place. By 1980, he had undergone major surgery on both his left and right knees. In March 1980, Cousins was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'', after being surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

in his home city of

. On 10 March 2012, he appeared on the gameshow '' All Star Family Fortunes'' with four of his nephews. He also appeared on the gameshow '' Tipping Point Lucky Stars'' in August 2013.

Charity work

Cousins is a significant patron of the Meningitis UK organization and the Starr Trust children's charity in Brighton.

Programmes

Results

Amateur career

Professional career

References

External links

Cousins Entertainment

Robin Cousins skates to Julian Lloyd Webber's music
Television appearance, YouTube
Sleeping Beauty, A Ballet on Ice
" featuring Cousins. Program produced by WGBH, made available on the

American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The AAPB is a national effort to di ...

by the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Brown Media Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, Robin 1957 births BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners British male single skaters LGBTQ figure skaters English gay sportsmen Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic figure skaters for Great Britain English Olympic competitors Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Sportspeople from Bristol Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Members of the Order of the British Empire