Tabby Stoecker excited to transfer her sliding skills to the ballroom as Olympic Champion takes on Strictly Come Dancing
Olympic Champion Tabby Stoecker believes the skills she learns in training at the University of Bath and competing on the international skeleton circuit will transfer to the ballroom when she competes in the 2026 edition of Strictly Come Dancing.
A dream appearance on the BBC’s Saturday primetime flagship continues an incredible year for Tabby, who won a historic mixed team skeleton gold for Team GB with Matt Weston at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Swapping sliding on ice for the sliding doors step may seem like a big change but Tabby says there are plenty of transferrable skills.
“They both demand a lot of physical training, mental resilience and determination,” she said. “You need to be ready to adapt at any moment, be extremely coachable and open to taking on feedback – good or bad – and be unflappable under pressure. Also both the Olympics and Strictly are live, so you’re putting yourself out there real time for people to watch – they’re both a performance of sorts.
“For skeleton specifically, we are encouraged to really tune into our body and our senses as we hurtle down the track, if you’re switched off for one moment you might miss something and then crash! So far it seems that dancing relies heavily on that trust in yourself too, so the skills translate really well.”
Tabby, a former circus skills performer, has trained with the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) at the University of Bath – a UK Sport-accredited Elite Training Centre – for the past seven years, progressing from a complete beginner to Olympic Champion and two-time World silver-medallist.
She is the youngest athlete to have been inducted into the University’s Hall of Fame for Sport following her stunning achievements in Milano-Cortina. She is continuing her skeleton career and will head back out on ice in the New Year.
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 19th September with a live launch show at 7.25pm on BBC1. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer – click here to watch.
Click here to read the full preview interview with Tabby.
Top picture credit: BBC/Ray Burmiston/BBC Creative.
