Confident Kerrs not worried about Olympic surprise

By Chris Cottrell, Sportsbeat, in Sheffield

OLYMPIC hopefuls Sinead and John Kerr have insisted they don't mind which compulsory dance they are given in Vancouver - because they love them both.

CONFIDENT: The Kerrs insist they will be happy with either of the compulsory dances at the Olympics in Vancouver after setting a personal best at the National Championships (Getty Images)

The Scottish siblings are Britain's best hope of ending the 16-year figure skating medal drought since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's bronze in Lillehammer.

Having finished tenth on their debut in Turin in 2006, the duo will kick-off their second Olympic campaign on February 19 with either a Tango Romantico or Golden Waltz for their compulsory dance.

And after setting a compulsory dance personal best of 36.13 for their Golden Waltz at the Trophee Eric Bompard Grand Prix last month, the Kerrs smashed it at the National Championships in Sheffield on Friday, scoring 37.59 for their Tango Romantico.

"It could still be either one at the Olympics but right now it really doesn't matter to us - we'd be happy with either of them," said Sinead.

"We're quite lucky in that we've done them both of them plenty of times this season with some success.

"We've probably done the Golden Waltz a few times more, so it was really good to get another Tango Romantico under the belt.

"To score a personal best with it was a bit of a surprise as well - but great.  We are looking to improve with every event  and at the moment that's happening."

While the Kerrs are confident with their compulsory dance - their score in Sheffield would have placed them fourth at the 2006 Olympics in Turin - the first event is rarely worth more than a fifth of their total score.

But the Scottish pair insist they are leaving no stone unturned in their quest for the perfect score in their original dance, performed to Johnny Cash's version of I've Been Everywhere, and their free skate, performed to Krwlng by Linkin Park.

And while the days of the perfect six - think Torvill and Dean's Bolero at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics - are long gone, the Scottish siblings are doing all they can to ensure maximum technical marks in Vancouver.

"There are four levels of difficulty for each element and the higher the level, the better technical score you're going to receive," said John.

"We're aiming four level four on all our moves.  Sometimes we might not get it, because we might make a mistake or not hold something for quite long enough, and that will bring the element down a level or two.

"But your score is based on a combination of the level and a grade of execution so if you execute something really well even though it isn't a great level, it pushes your score up to the same as if you poorly execute a really difficult element.

"It's hard to say exactly where we're at with the other two dances because judges scoring can be quite subjective. However, we've been scoring really well compared to some of our rivals in the past so that's a good way of gauging how we‘re doing."