VIDEO: Ice skating star Meg is going for gold

The 10-year-old was a big fan of the popular television show Dancing on Ice and so her mum Nicky decided to take her to Sutton’s Lammas Leisure Centre so she could have a go herself.

“Nobody in the family skates,” said Nicky, of Ompton, near Wellow.

“We came for a family session and it’s gone from there.

“With hard work and practise she has just got better.”

Meg has Down’s Syndrome and suffers from a heart condition that has meant she has needed three major heart operations.

But this has not put her off her ice skating, which has become her big passion.

She has now been skating for five years and trains five times a week.

Coached by Louisa Chatwin, Meg is also a member of the Lammas Ice Skating Club.

Said Louisa: “She’s got her own little personality which is lovely. She tries very, very hard and though some things are a challenge, she doesn’t give up.

“She will stick with it and she likes to do her own thing.”

Meg showed off her blossoming talent at last year’s Special Olympics International Ice Championships in Dumfries, where she picked up an impressive two gold medals after seeing off competition from Iceland, Finland, the USA and Canada.

And she is now getting ready to represent Great Britain’s Special Olympics team in an international ice skating competition in Vienna next month.

She has prepared two sections for the competition - an elements section which will see her perform certain skating moves, and a free-skating programme, in which Meg will perform a routine to ABBA’s Dancing Queen.

Meg said that as well as wearing the special sparkly outfits, the bit she enjoys most about ice skating is doing spins, jumps, spirals - and going fast!

Louisa said: “We don’t know who we are competing against - all we can ask is that Meg goes out there, tries her best and enjoys it.”

Meg also won the Nottinghamshire Junior Disability Sportsperson of the Year Award in 2013 and Nicky said that the family are so proud of what she has achieved.

“We are thrilled with how well she’s done and how much effort she’s put in,” she said.

“It’s a very proud moment when you see her doing her dance.”