Karen Barber

Karen Barber (born 21 June 1961 in Manchester) is a British ice dancer. She is the 1983 European bronze medalist and competed at two Olympics with partner Nicky Slater.

This article is about the figure skater. For the anthropologist, see Karin Barber.
Karen Barber
Personal information
Full nameKaren Barber
Country represented Great Britain
Born (1961-06-21) 21 June 1961
Manchester, England, Tameside, Ashton-Under-Lyne
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Former partnerNicky Slater
Kim Spreyer
Skating clubRichmond Ice Dance & Figure Skating Club

Skating career

Barber won the silver medal at the 1977 World Junior Championships with partner Kim Spreyer.[1] When that partnership ended, she teamed up with Nicky Slater. They won the bronze medal at the 1983 European Championships.[2] They represented Great Britain at the 1980 Winter Olympics, placing 12th, and at the 1984 Winter Olympics, where they placed 6th.

Following her retirement from competitive skating, Barber worked as a coach and skated professionally.

Media work

From 2006 Barber served as a judge on Dancing On Ice, until 2011 where she was moved into the role of head coach where remained for the 2011 and 2012 series(it was in her 1st year as coach that she got into a big fight with her former co judge Jason Gardiner) before she returned to the judging panel in 2013 where she remained until the end of series 9 in 2014. Barber did not return to the programme in 2018 but did return for series 11 as head coach in 2019.

Personal life

Barber has two daughters, Laura and Emma, with her former husband, Stephen Pickavance.[3]

She has been in a relationship with Christopher Dean since 2011.

Competitive highlights

(with Slater)

Event 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85
Olympic Winter Games12th6th
World Championships13th10th7th7th5th5th6th
European Championships11th8th5th5th3rd4th4th
NHK Trophy2nd1st1st
Skate America3rd
Skate Canada International2nd2nd
St. Ivel International3rd2nd2nd1st
British Championships2nd2nd1st

(with Spreyer)

Event 1977
World Junior Championships2nd

References
  1. "World Junior Figure Skating Championships Results: Ice Dancing Medalists" (PDF). International Skating Union.
  2. "European Figure Skating Championships Results: Ice Dancing Medalists" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-05.
  3. O'Boyle, Claire (9 January 2013). "Dancing On Ice's Karen Barber on rival judge Jason Gardiner, partner Christopher Dean, weight loss and menopause". Mirror.co.uk.
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