Ice dancing: Backfired joke leads to comeback

The Czech Republic couple of Milana and Jiri Pokorny win the ice dance gold medal at the Dunedin Ice Stadium on Saturday. Photo by Jane Dawber.

Jiri Pokorny thought he was playing a joke on his wife, Milana, but it backfired and led him back into the ice dance arena.

The 1976 Olympian had watched the European championships on television and then read on the internet about competitions for masters.

"I gave the form to Milana as a joke and she took it seriously," Jiri said.

They ended up competing at the International Skating Union's (ISU) adult competition in Oberstdorf in Germany last year. It is the only ISU masters-sanctioned competition in the world.

They were both international ice skaters for Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and Jiri competed at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck with his dance partner, Eva Pestova. They finished 11th.

'I fell in love with Milana and we married before the Olympics in 1975," Jiri said.

Milana (57) was pregnant with the couple's three sons at the time of the 1976 Winter Olympics.

"I watched it on TV and kept on eating," she quipped.

Jiri (57), a financial manager of a theatre in Prague, retired from competitive ice dance after the Olympics.

His best world championship performances were 17th (1974), 10th (1975) and eighth (1976).

The couple hit the ice again last year after a gap of 35 years and Jiri wore the same boots he had worn at the Olympics.

"When we competed in Germany I told the 20-year-old youngsters that my boots were older than they were," he said.

"It was hard just being on skates. I couldn't believe how I could possibly move on skates again."

It was a painful few months getting the old skating muscles back into shape.

"We could walk upstairs OK but coming down was very painful," Jiri said.

Milana had a setback when she crashed and injured her shoulder. "I couldn't lift my arm," she said.

They were not concerned about winning their first competition.

"My goal was just to stay alive" Jiri quipped. "We spend three days on the ice each week and another three days in the gym."

Milana has joined the youngsters in ballet lessons to regain the suppleness she needs to be a top skater again.

It was always their dream to travel to Australasia and to tie that in with ice dance competitions was special.

The couple showed at the Dunedin Ice Stadium at the weekend that they had regained their old skills as they captivated the audience.

Jiri won the gold medal in the elite men's over 56 solo dance and the couple won gold in the short dance couple.

The United Kingdom couple of Hana and Brian Connor won the over-56 free dance.

Seven countries - Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand - were represented in the ice skating competition.

Kath Craven (82), who coached New Zealander Warren Maxwell, who competed for the United Kingdom at the 1976 Olympics with England's Janet Thompson, watched the ice dance at Dunedin Ice stadium at the weekend.