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Fractured bones, eating disorders and back pain: what life as a champion ice skater is really like

Alex Murphy is a professional skater for ITV's Dancing on Ice - ITV Picture Desk
Alex Murphy is a professional skater for ITV's Dancing on Ice - ITV Picture Desk

Having a Mum who is an ice skating coach means I have been on the ice since I was just 10 months old. Ever since I took my first steps, I was out on the ice with her, skidding around as she trained her students. For us, that was day care. 

When I was six, I asked if I could have private lessons and started training for up to five hours a week. This might seem a young to take up such a physically demanding sport, but my Mum passed her passion to me. Years earlier, she had given up her career as a physical therapist to become a full time ice skating coach. This meant that, although she knew it was a tough sport for me to pursue, she could also make sure I had enough time off, ate well and stayed healthy. 

The risks of the sport can't be underestimated, though. Take Evgenia Medvedeva, the 18-year-old Russian skater who broke a bone in her foot when landing a double Axel jump; her hopes for a gold medal in PyeongChang are now on the ice, as it were. She is the third skater from Russia to have had a potential career-ending medical problem in a year.  

But I wasn't surprised when I heard that others are planning to compete despite recent injuries - Mum brought me up knowing the risks, and the toll skating takes on your body. I've been lucky not to have suffered too badly (touch wood), but I know just how brutal it can be.

Winter Olympics 2018: Best pictures from South Korea's PyeongChang games
Winter Olympics 2018: Best pictures from South Korea's PyeongChang games

I was Medvedeva's age when I decided to make a career out of skating. After performing a paid show for General Electric, Disney on Ice approached me and I accepted my first professional ice skating job. 

Fractured bones, eating disorders, back pain and knee troubles are all par for the course in this challenging career. Growing up, many young female skaters around me suffered stress fractures in their backs. We were going through puberty and our bodies were growing at such a rapid pace that they couldn't handle the pressure on the ice of moves such as a triple jump. As you age, these problems move to the knees for girls, who spend a lot of time jumping, and hips and backs for boys, who spend a lot of time lifting.

Despite the horror stories, I have never questioned ice skating as a profession. It is possible to be successful while staying safe. You need to make sure you have a healthy, balanced diet, take rest days to let your body recover and train as much off the ice as you do on. You use so many muscles while skating that you have to make sure your body is strong and solid. I keep this up through a rigid six-day regime that includes the gym, ballet, hot yoga, running and stretching - on top of ice skating. 

That isn't to say my career hasn't been without medical problems. When I was 24 I suffered from a stroke while skating. It wasn't related to the sport, but was caused by a birth defect. I was really sick and had to have an operation. But, within three and a half weeks, I had my skates back on and was performing in a show. Recovery was tough and, for a while, my I didn't feel right within my skin. That passed after a couple of years and now, six years later, I feel great. 

I know I have many years left in me and, I can guarantee, you'll see me skating until I'm forced from the ice. 

Alex Murphy is a professional skater on Dancing On Ice, on Sundays at 9pm on ITV.

As told to Cara McGoogan