MATT PARR might have the smallest workload of Britain’s figure skaters at the Winter Olympics but he’s determined to have a big impact off the ice in Sochi.
Despite being a four-time British men’s champion, the 23-year-old’s involvement in Russia is limited to the newlook team event.
And he will make history with the men first on the ice today and Parr first to skate in a group that includes Russian sporting legend and former Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko.
The North-Easterner will also become the first British man to compete at a Games since Steven Cousins at Nagano 1998, although he will likely get just one skate.
Only five nations qualify for a free skate once the men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance short programs are completed and Parr, from North Shields, will compete before the Olympic flame is even lit tomorrow.
However brief his Olympic moment, Parr insists he is ready to be Team GB’s biggest supporter.
“I will be there to support the team in any way possible and just take in as much as I can because it could be a once in a lifetime experience,” he said.
“Realistically it could be the only time I could get to go to an Olympic Games and the only time I will go to Russia.
“I’m looking forward to getting around all the sports to cheer on my team-mates, I’m there to support Team GB in whatever way I am needed.
“I am only in the team event which we earned by finishing in the top ten in the world. On it’s own this is a massive achievement, so big credit to everybody that helped get that place for us.
“I will be in Sochi until the closing ceremony. I am going to represent Team GB and represent Britain and that’s the really exciting thing for me.
“I am going to be in and around everybody else who has been working their whole life to compete at the Olympics.
“The last thing I would want to be is a nuisance to the team and be a bad example of what Britain is about.
“Because we have dedicated our life to one sport it is the last thing I want to do is tarnish my name and make people look stupid for sending me there.
“I am absolutely there for my team-mates to do whatever I can after I have finished.”
And with Britain failing to qualify a men’s individual spot for Sochi, the same story as four years ago for Vancouver 2010, Parr knows just how lucky he is to be making his Olympic bow.
“We were a few places out [from qualifying a men’s spot], the same thing with Vancouver where we missed out by one place,” he added.
“I am very fortunate that we have the team event. It is a new competition and it’s a really interesting experiment for figure skating and I’m a big supporter of it.
“We usually skate for ourselves but it’s great to do it as part of a team, that’s going to make it extra special.”
- Samsung are a proud partner of Team GB and are supporting the Samsung Galaxy Team. To meet the team, see exclusive content and win prizes, including once-in-a-lifetime winter sport training sessions with the Samsung Galaxy Team athletes, visit: samsung.com/uk/sochi2014
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here