Ice skating duo Christopher Boyadji and Zoe Jones are looking for sponsorship to help them reach their dream of Olympic glory.
The talented figure skating partnership have represented Great Britain at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
And the pair have already been selected to compete at the end of this month at the 2017 World Championships - the first step towards qualifying for the Olympics.
Zoe and Christopher teamed up in June last year and they have gone from strength to strength, but without sponsorship they face an impossible mountain to climb.
Christopher explained: “Ice skating is really expensive to be able to compete at this level.
We have to pay for professional coaching, travel costs to get us to competitions, costumes as well as living costs.
“It’s really difficult to make it work.”
The pair have to fit their training routine around work at the Link Centre.
They are able to support themselves by running regular coaching sessions for other promising skaters as well as earning extra money working at the Link’s coffee bar.
“If we are able to get some sponsorship it would make our dream possible. It would mean that we could devote more time to training and we would have a much better chance of achieving our goals.”
Zoe was the British Champion in 2000 and 2001 in the British Senior Ladies event. After that, she decided to retire and moved to Canada to coach and build a family. Zoe, 37, is now a single mother of three children and she just returned to skating after 13 years in retirement.
As a singles skater Christopher, who was born in France, represented his country at five ISU Junior Grand Prix events and the 2009 Winter Universiade.
As a pairs skater he won the 2014 British national title with former skating partner Amani Fancy and won the bronze medal at the 2015 Tallinn Trophy.
Zoe and Christoper are trying to raise £20,000 to fund their trip to the 2017 World Figure Skating Championship in Helsinki and prepare for the next Olympic season together.
The pair have set up a crowdfunding page to support their efforts www.gofundme.com/JonesBoyadji
Anyone interested in sponsoring the pair should get in touch via Facebook by searching for Zoe Jones and Christopher Boyadji.
Your Comments
Be the first to comment on this article
Login or Register to post a comment on this article