Gold for ice skating Matlock schoolgirl Abigail in Britannia Cup win

Abigail joined her team “Ice Dreams” from Nottingham Synchronised Skating Academy to take gold at the event on Saturday, with a highly impressive technical and performance score of 54.55.

Abigail, a student at Highfield School, said: “When the winter sports season started in 2021 we were still very much restricted through the pandemic although things were improving we still faced challenging times around our training, but as a team we were determined not to let this get in our way, keeping ourselves fit and motivated via off-ice Zoom sessions with our team of amazing coaches and posting personal training sessions amongst all our team skaters via social media.

"As restrictions lifted so did our determination and passion and getting back on ice and training as a team meant so much to us. We had become stronger and more focused than ever before.

"I love the competitions, the atmosphere is electric and meeting up with all the other teams from around the UK and world is just awesome.

“This season was extended due to the pandemic so it won’t be long now before we start to set our attention to next season and I am really eager to get started and hope to travel and compete abroad again next year.”

Abigail hit a hat-trick in 2022, with three competitions, three gold medals and becoming a Great Britain Champion for the fourth year running.