Louise Walden (born 19 August 1983) is a British former competitive ice dancer. With Owen Edwards, she won gold at the 2010 Ice Challenge, 2010 International Trophy of Lyon, and 2011 British Championships. They competed in the final segment at two ISU Championships2011 Worlds, where they finished 20th, and 2012 Europeans, where they placed 13th. Walden is a sports commentator for Eurosport and Discovery Plus, as well as an on and off ice skating coach and choreographer. She has also worked in professional shows.

Louise Walden
Walden and Edwards in 2009.
Born (1983-08-19) 19 August 1983 (age 41)
Preston, England
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country United Kingdom
PartnerOwen Edwards
Jamie Whyte
Edward Throp
James-Anthony Peatfield
CoachGalit Chait
Muriel Boucher-Zazoui
Romain Haguenauer
Olivier Schoenfelder
Joan Slater
Skating clubCSGL
Began skating1994
Retired2013

Walden is a sports commentator for Eurosport and Discovery Plus, as well as an on-and-off ice skating coach and choreographer. She has also worked in professional shows.

Walden and Edwards married in May 2016 and live in Lancashire, United Kingdom with their two sons, born in 2018 and 2021.

Career

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Walden and Edwards began skating together in June 2006.[1] They made their international debut in October 2008 at the 2008 Karl Schaefer Memorial in Vienna, Austria, where they placed 8th. Between April 2008 and September 2012, they were based at CSG Lyon International Skating Academy in France, where they were coached by Muriel Boucher-Zazoui, Romain Haguenauer and Olivier Schoenfelder.[2] They won the British national title in the 2010–2011 season.[3] At the 2011 World Championships in Moscow, they qualified to the final segment and finished 20th overall.

Walden/Edwards placed 13th at the 2012 European Championships in Sheffield, England. In September 2012, the duo moved to Hackensack, New Jersey, to train under Galit Chait. In May 2013, they took to their official website to announce their retirement from competitive skating.[4]

Walden and Edwards were ranked fifth in the 2009/2010[5] UK national rankings and second in 2010/2011.[6]

After retiring from competitive skating in 2013, Walden and Edwards turned professional, skating as principal performers in many ice shows. After this Louise continued to work professionally in Performance Management.

In 2018 Walden began her commenting career for Eurosport and has covered many events such as the Winter Universiade, ISU Grand Prix Events, European Championships, World Championships, and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Walden also works as an on-and-off ice figure skating coach and choreographer, based in the UK [7]

Programs

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(with Edwards)

Season Original dance Free dance
2011–2012
[8][9]

2010–2011
[10]
  • Good Bye Lenin!
    • Mother's Journey
    • Lara's Castle
    • The Decant Session/The Deutschmark is Coming
    • Preparations for the Last TV Fake
      by Yann Tiersen

Competitive highlights

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(with Edwards)

International[11]
Event 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13
Worlds 20th
Europeans 13th
Cup of Nice 5th 5th
Ice Challenge 11th 1st 6th 11th
Karl Schäfer 8th
Nebelhorn 12th 10th
NRW Trophy 7th 6th 7th
Ondrej Nepela 7th 8th 8th
Pavel Roman 7th
Trophy of Lyon 1st 3rd
Universiade 13th 5th
National[11]
British Champ. 5th 4th 3rd 5th 1st 2nd 3rd
Welsh Champ. 1st

References

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  1. ^ "Q & A with Britain's new champions: Walden & Edwards". ice-dance.com. January 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012.
  2. ^ Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (5 October 2011). "The Inside Edge with Sarah and Drew – Oct. 5". IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Summer Spotlight: Louise Walden And Owen Edwards". From the Boards. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  4. ^ "About us". Official website of Louise Walden and Owen Edwards. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018.
  5. ^ "NISA 2009/2010 National Rankings" (PDF). National Ice Skating Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2012.
  6. ^ "NISA 2010/2011 National Rankings" (PDF). National Ice Skating Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011.
  7. ^ "Arena Coaches". Pleasure Beach Arena, Blackpool, Lancashire. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011.
  10. ^ "Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Competition Results: Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017.
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