North Shields Figure Skater Arrives In Sochi

3 February 2014, 06:12 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

23 year old Matthew Parr is arriving in Sochi today to get ready to compete in the figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Matthew first starting skating at Whitley Bay Ice Rink when he was just 7 years old.

Since then he's become a four-time (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) British national champion.

Matthew now does most of his training at Dundee Ice Skating Club under the watchful eyes of his coaches Debi and Simon Briggs.

He told Capital:
"I start my journey from Edinburgh on Sunday to London, then I fly to Moscow on Monday and then finally into Sochi on Tuesday.

I'm feeling good. I'm an amateur athlete so the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of what any athlete aims for so to have been selected for my country I'm absolutely ecstatic. 

Once I arrive on Tuesday I'll get straight into the rink and have a practice session.
Then I'll have another practice on the Wednesday and then I actually compete on Thursday, so i'm straight into the action.

Then the opening ceremony is on Friday, so I'm competing in my first event really early on. So I'll be done early and then I feel very fortunate that I'm then staying out to support the rest of the team and take in everything I can."

And he hopes the Winter Olympics will have a similar effect on getting people more involved in sport:
"I think London made people more aware of the talent that we have in this country and I hope it's made people more interested in sport in general.

I'm hoping the lasting effects of London will certainly carry on into Sochi and the nation will get behind their athletes again."