Firecrackers at 50! Former Olympic champions Torvill and Dean wow crowd with ice cool torch routine

Combining the Olympic torch with a fast-paced ice skating routine could be considered playing with fire.

But former Olympians Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean made it look easy last night as they performed a number of daring lifts and turns, while balancing the famous flame ahead of the London 2012 Games.

Twenty-eight years after they won a gold medal in the 1984 winter Olympics in Yugoslavia, the pair proved that they were still world-class skaters.

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Perfect partners: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean showed their elegant style and explosive energy has not dimmed

Glorious moment: The 1984 gold medal winners provided inspiration for this year’s competitors

Olympic speed: Torchbearer No 100 Ms Christensen (nee Torvill) and torchbearer 107 Mr Dean carry the Olympic Flame in the National Ice Centre in Nottingham

They performed an impressive three-minute routine at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham to the delight of the 6,000-strong crowd.

Addressing fans beforehand, Torvill, 54, who looked younger than her years, said: ‘We are so, so excited right now.’

The routine included flinging Torvill into the air while she carried the flame, and Dean holding the torch in one hand while spinning his partner in circles with the other.

The duo wore complementary shades of purple for their role in the 8,000-mile relay around Britain, which travelled from Lincoln to Nottingham yesterday.

Powerful: The excited pair delighted the 6,000-strong crowd, despite the fact both are now in their 50s

Torvill and Dean lift

They said the routine had been specially choreographed from scratch to accommodate the lit torch.

Torvill said: ‘It’s not the easiest thing to skate with.

‘When I’m being lifted by Chris, I now have an extra weight, which does affect the balance.’

Dean, 53, who first danced with his partner in 1974, added: ‘We knew that we would have to be quite creative to keep it moving with the two of us and make it look interesting and exciting at the same time.

Handing over: The couple take the Olympic flame from the previous relay runner at the ice rink

Guiding lights: Routine over, the couple light the cauldron at the end of Day 41 of the 70-day, 8,000-mile relay

‘It’s a relay between the two of us.’

The pair, from Nottingham, are Olympic ambassadors and will attend several events during the summer Games.

It is the first time that the Olympic flame has travelled by ice since the relay started on May 19 at Land’s End. It has already travelled via boat, air and road.