Penny Coomes

Penny Coomes was born on April 6, 1989, in Ascot, England. She began skating in 1997 at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham and was introduced to the sport by her mother at Slough Ice Arena at the age of eight. Coomes attended Wessex Primary School and Cox Green Secondary before moving to Nottingham, where she later studied psychology at Nottingham Trent University. She also learned ballet at Desborough School. Her stepfather, Philip Askew, was a National Ice Dance Champion and later became part of her coaching and choreographing team. Coomes teamed up with Nicholas Buckland in 2005, having met him at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham. Their partnership marked the beginning of a significant career in ice dance.

Coomes and Buckland made their senior international debut at the 2008 Finlandia Trophy, finishing ninth. They achieved a bronze medal at the 2009 Golden Spin of Zagreb and secured a silver medal at the British Championships in the 2009–10 season. This led to their selection to represent Great Britain at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where they finished 20th. In the 2011–12 season, they placed fourth at the 2011 Cup of China, won silver at the 2011 Golden Spin of Zagreb, and gold at the Toruń Cup. They ranked sixth at the 2012 European Championships in Sheffield, England, and 14th at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, France.

The pair continued their career progression, achieving a bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships in Budapest and placing tenth at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The 2014–15 season saw them win gold at the International Cup of Nice and NRW Trophy, and their first Grand Prix medal, a bronze, at the 2014 Rostelecom Cup. Coomes faced significant health challenges, including a broken cuboid bone in 2008 and a fractured patella in 2016, which caused them to miss much of the 2016–17 season. Despite these setbacks and Buckland’s heart condition, they qualified for their third Olympic appearance at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and finished 11th at the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in 2018. Following their competitive retirement in 2018, Coomes and Buckland worked as stunt doubles and consultants for the television drama “Torvill and Dean.”