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Child refugee is ice dance champion
Segen and her dance partner Niels van der Linden took first place at a contest in London this month
Segen and her dance partner Niels van der Linden took first place at a contest in London this month

A refugee child who fled civil war in Africa is continuing to 'freeze out' the competition in the world of ice skating.

Segen Habtemichael, nine, of Rose Hill, Oxford, was just two and half when she and her mother Eden, 31, escaped from Eritrea.

Segen had never seen snow or ice before arriving the UK.

But earlier this month, she and her dance partner, Niels van der Linden, also nine, lifted a trophy at the Open National Ice Dance competition at Alexandra Palace in London.

Now Segen is preparing to compete against older girls in her biggest contest to date - the British Solo Ice Dance Championships.

And she is setting her sights on even greater heights - becoming a professional ice skater.

She said: "The first time I went on the ice was really funny, because I kept on falling over. But I wasn't scared, so I wanted to carry on.

"Now I wish that the whole world was made of ice, so I could skate any time I want."

Segen's love of skating came after a lesson at Oxford Ice Rink, in Oxpens Road. After progressing very quickly through the skating beginners' badges, she won local spin/spiral/jump competitions and also started to learn ice dance.

After passing all the National Ice Skating Association's Level 2 ice dance tests, she was allowed to compete in the 2008 British Solo Ice Dance Championship competition.

She now has a clutch of silver and gold and bronze medals to her name.

Her mum, Eden, was a television journalist in Eritrea. But when their safety became threatened, they escaped to Britain.

Eden, 31, now travels the country with her daughter, supporting her love of skating.

She said: ""I am so proud of her. And my family back in Eritrea still cannot believe this little girl from a warm country is competing and dancing on ice!"

Segen's coach, Pamela Rhodes, added: "Her next competition will be the British solo ice dance championships in early July, where she will skate in the novice ladies under-12 category competing against 26 other girls.

"This will be a tough challenge, as Segen will be one of the youngest competitors."

7:37pm Sunday 15th June 2008

Print   Email this   Comment
Posted by: peace101, u.s.a. on 6:08pm Mon 16 Jun 08
hi segen,you make me proud of being eritrean again.keep up been number one.
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