Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland complete emotional Olympic journey
BySportsbeat
Updated 19/02/2018 at 07:15 GMT
Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland defied the odds to finally take the Olympic stage.
Britain's Penny Coomes and Britain's Nicholas Buckland compete in the ice dance short dance of the figure skating event during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung on February 19
Image credit: Getty Images
When athletes talk about going 'on a journey', few would have the same rollercoaster story as the British ice dancers.
They were 20th in their Olympic debut in Vancouver and slowly started to inch their way up the world rankings, securing a tenth place in Sochi four years ago, just a few weeks after winning bronze at the European Championships.
Success in ice dancing is never overnight. You have to serve your time and establish your credentials in the minds of judges but Coomes and Buckland were charting the right path.
But, when you are absent from competitions, you are quickly forgotten.
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Britain's Penny Coomes and Britain's Nicholas Buckland compete in the ice dance short dance of the figure skating event during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games
Image credit: Getty Images
Coomes' pneumonia forced the team to withdraw from 2015 World Championship but 12 months later they finished seventh - everything back on track for PyeongChang.
And then, during a practice session that summer, Coomes suffered a horror fall and smashed her knee into eight pieces, an injury most thought would end her career.
"It felt amazing being out there after everything we've been through," said Coomes.
It was a very special and powerful moment. When something you love so much goes, it's the most amazing feeling in the world to have it back.
"I've had two surgeries and a lot of blood, sweat and tears and it was an all-time low. I couldn't walk for three months and it's the hardest thing I've ever had to go through.
"While I wish it never happened, I am thankful for the journey because I've found a lot of inner strength.
"I hit an all-time low and I was not in a happy place, which just isn't me. We've had to fight every step of the way in our career but we've grown stronger and because of how hard we've had to fight, it means more to be here."
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Britain's Penny Coomes and Britain's Nicholas Buckland
Image credit: Getty Images
Coomes and Buckland danced to the same short programme that Torvill and Dean performed when they won bronze at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, the last time British figure skaters won an Olympic medal.
But Buckland - who received a text message from Christopher Dean before competing - admitted some disappointment with the scores, which ranked them tenth heading into Tuesday's long programme, with Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Muir leading the way.
"We got nice high technical scores but the component scores from the judges were perhaps a little bit conservative," he said.
"We have quite a low world ranking after missing last season and that hurt us a little bit, if I'm in being critical."
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