Lee Valley based Ice Dancers, Mina Zdravkova and Christopher Davis earned their spot at the 2010 World Championship of Figure Skating last weekend.

The Bulgarian duo who train in London needed to surpass the technical score of 33 points in the Short Dance. They achieved this with a new personal best of 38.56. As a bonus, they secured the Silver Medal with an overall event score of 154.46 at the Jegvirag Trophy in Hungary.

The team will be training hard with their coaching team, Marika & Vitaliy Baranov to put their best foot forward. Mina & Chris are scheduled to make their World Championship debut in Montreal in March.

Representing their home country, Bulgaria at the highest level has been a driving motivation for these dedicated skaters.

We are really happy to have qualified for the World Championship 2010. When we started the season our goal was the European Championship, so to go further than expected is awesome

Mina Zdravkova – Bulgarian Ice Dance Champion

Coaches, Marika & Vitaliy Baranov are pleased with the progress of their top students but eagerly await re-development of their home rink.

Plans are being submitted to upgrade the training venue. Lee Valley is currently a single International pad (56 x 26 metres). Redevelopment would bring skaters a twin Olympic pad (60 x 30 metres) facility.

Why a new Ice Rink?

A twin rink would improve the iceskating experiene for all kinds of skaters. Two rinks would double ice time dramatically improving skating conditions for everyone from comlpete beginners to Ice hockey clubs, recreational skaters and aspiring competitors.

Mina & Chris have beaten the odds to qualify for the World Championship. They’ve had to train alongside skaters of every standard including beginners. There isn’t enough ice time to split between ice users. That is not usual for World level competitors, it’s a significant disadvantage.

Marika Humphreys-Baranova OLY

Follow Mina & Chris’ progress with their next blog post here

Excited about the plans for a re-newed Twin pad ice rink at Lee Valley? Find out more and lend your support here