It was the 1994 Winter Olympics, at Lillehammer, a competition filled with drama from the outset, that grabbed young Stacey's attention.

But it wasn't the feud between American skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan that fuelled her interest, it was more the poise, grace and excitement of the sport, which really captured her imagination.

It was also the year that Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean returned to the ice, 10 years after capturing Olympic gold.

Now, 13 years later, in the comfort of her family home in Clayton-le-Woods, Stacey recalls her first taste of the sport.

Stacey, now 19, said: "I was watching the skating events and I really fancied giving it a go.

"Our nearest ice rink was at Blackburn, so my mum took me down there and I started to have lessons."

It wasn't long before the former Leyland St Mary's Catholic Technology School pupil was hitting the ice in search of medals, as she took part in her first competition at the age of just eight years old - but many in the sport would consider her a late starter!

She added: "In a lot of other countries which have top skaters, such as Russia for example, they start as young three or four years old. And because it's so cold they have perfect conditions for practicing, but over here many people taking part in the sport have to travel quite far to their nearest ice rink."

But as Stacey progressed through the ranks, which meant plenty of hours practice at Blackburn, her paths crossed with fellow skater David King and the idea of pairs skating was born.