Ashlie Slatter and Atl Ongay-Perez competed in the junior ice dance rhythm programme at the British Figure Skating Championships last year.
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Two teen figure skaters from Streatham are heading to South Korea this week to compete in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Ashlie Slatter, 14, and Atl Ongay-Perez, 16, will represent the UK in ice dance alongside 37 athletes across 11 different sports in Gangwon.
The duo has momentum after winning gold for junior ice dance at the British World Championships in December and will be looking for continued success when the games start on 24 January 2024.
Slatter and Ongay-Perez are both from south London. They met in 2016 at the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre after their coach, four-time World Champion Diane Towler Green, paired them. They have skated as a team ever since.
The pair is still based at the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre, where the two athletes train five to six days a week with a mixture of on and off-ice activities.
Ice Assistant Manager Sophie Simmons said the pair works to an extremely high standard while still supporting the local skating community.
“They are always polite and friendly to their fellow skaters and are always willing to lend a hand or advice to anyone looking to improve or take up the sport.”
It’s an exciting moment for the skating community in Streatham, who Simmons says is “extremely proud of [Slatter and Ongay-Perez] and what they have achieved.”
Defying expectations
Figure skating expert Sarah Knight said the pair has already defied expectations in its second international junior season.
She adds: “Ice dance teams tend to have at least two to four international junior seasons and the first couple [seasons] are just establishing themselves internationally, getting the judges to know them.
“They’ve come in this season and blown away a lot of people’s expectations. They placed fourth at both of their junior grand prize events, which was an amazing achievement.”
The young skaters are excited to compete at the games.
In an interview with Riverside Radio, Ongay-Perez said:
“We don’t want to put this big burden of pressure on ourselves. So we’re going to do what we know we can do and what we’ve been training for.”
Sarah Knight said that the skaters’ debut is an exciting moment for British skating.
“They’re going to be stars. A lot of people that have been watching them for many years have always said they have the X factor and they have something about them that makes them so charismatic to watch.”
The Team GB athletes will compete on 28 January and 30 January.
UK viewers can watch the competition on the Olympic Channel or stream it at Olympics.com.
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Headline‘They’re going to be stars’: Streatham teens to represent Great Britain at Youth Olympics
Short HeadlineStreatham teens to represent UK at Youth Olympics
StandfirstFigure skaters Ashlie Slatter and Atl Ongay-Perez will compete in Gangwon, South Korea later this month.
Two teen figure skaters from Streatham are heading to South Korea this week to compete in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Ashlie Slatter, 14, and Atl Ongay-Perez, 16, will represent the UK in ice dance alongside 37 athletes across 11 different sports in Gangwon.
The duo has momentum after winning gold for junior ice dance at the British World Championships in December and will be looking for continued success when the games start on 24 January 2024.
Slatter and Ongay-Perez are both from south London. They met in 2016 at the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre after their coach, four-time World Champion Diane Towler Green, paired them. They have skated as a team ever since.
The pair is still based at the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre, where the two athletes train five to six days a week with a mixture of on and off-ice activities.
Ice Assistant Manager Sophie Simmons said the pair works to an extremely high standard while still supporting the local skating community.
“They are always polite and friendly to their fellow skaters and are always willing to lend a hand or advice to anyone looking to improve or take up the sport.”
It’s an exciting moment for the skating community in Streatham, who Simmons says is “extremely proud of [Slatter and Ongay-Perez] and what they have achieved.”
Defying expectations
Figure skating expert Sarah Knight said the pair has already defied expectations in its second international junior season.
She adds: “Ice dance teams tend to have at least two to four international junior seasons and the first couple [seasons] are just establishing themselves internationally, getting the judges to know them.
“They’ve come in this season and blown away a lot of people’s expectations. They placed fourth at both of their junior grand prize events, which was an amazing achievement.”
The young skaters are excited to compete at the games.
In an interview with Riverside Radio, Ongay-Perez said:
“We don’t want to put this big burden of pressure on ourselves. So we’re going to do what we know we can do and what we’ve been training for.”
Sarah Knight said that the skaters’ debut is an exciting moment for British skating.
“They’re going to be stars. A lot of people that have been watching them for many years have always said they have the X factor and they have something about them that makes them so charismatic to watch.”
The Team GB athletes will compete on 28 January and 30 January.
UK viewers can watch the competition on the Olympic Channel or stream it at Olympics.com.
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