Professional Dancing On Ice trains young figure skaters who fled the Ukraine war to the UK | World News
A seven-year-old figure skater from Ukraine who fled the war to live in Bristol received training from a professional skater Dancing On Ice, after being featured on Sky News.
Gosha Mandziuk has competed nationally in his hometown and trains six days a week, but conflict has left him struggling to maintain his training.
Now, the UK skating community has rallied to support him, including American professional skater Matt Evers, who has performed in every series of ITV programmes.
Matt said: “Witnessing and hearing his story really made my heart clench.
“I think as a professional skater and working with 15 different celebrities on Dancing On Ice, we can spot some of the things that a coach or skater can’t figure out. Normal tape may not be visible.
“Watching the tapes of him and from you guys filming, I can definitely see he has potential. Even the way he stands on his skates – he just has it – he is a talented kid!”
Gosha has also been coached by coaches at his new local rink, Planet Ice in Bristol.
Fiona Forbes Zaldua is a lead coach there.
Matt Evers appeared in every season of ITV’s Dancing On Ice
She said: “I gave him powerful lessons. Get him to stretch his legs, stretch his arms, look up so he doesn’t look down at the ice and show the really lovely confidence he has.
“He’s a very brave boy who’s been through what he’s got, and we just want to support him in any way we can.”
Gosha and her mother Iryna moved in with a host family in Bristol in April.
She told Sky News they were overwhelmed by the level of support they received.
“Since the last shoot, we’ve met so many amazing people. You don’t even realize that there are a lot of people out there wanting to help. I’m sure he’s more confident now.
“He got a lot of instruction, he went to the ice rink, he got new skates, and his skating is more, more smooth so now he’s stronger than before. .”
‘We miss home’
Iryna’s husband and Gosha’s father are still back Ukraine – and Iryna hoped they would come home as soon as possible.
She said: “Gosha is a hard worker. To be talented in this sport, you need to work hard.
“We need to return, this is his work, his effort that he has been doing since he was four years old – we don’t want to lose it. We miss home, we miss our country, we miss our family. and our coaches. So we want to come back – we need to plan.”
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Until then, Matt says he will continue to support Gosha.
“I’ll definitely be following his journey, and who knows, in a few years maybe he’ll be on Dancing on Ice, you never know!” he say.
