Kristen Spours

Kristen Spours (born 11 April 2000) is an English figure skater. She has won eight senior international medals, competed in the final segment at three World Junior Championships (2017, 2018, 2019), and has competed at two World Championships (2016, 2023).

Personal life
Spours was born on 11 April 2000 in Kingston upon Thames, England. She attended Howard of Effingham School.

Early years
Spours began learning to skate in 2006, having become interested after watching Dancing on Ice. In the 2012–2013 season, she won the novice bronze medal at the British Championships. Her first coach was Veronika Bogamolova before electing to train under Ruth Woodstock at Guildford Spectrum and Christian Newberry at the Lee Valley Ice Centre.

2015–2016 season
Making her first ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) appearance, Spours placed twenty-first in Bratislava, Slovakia. She then went on to make her senior international debut at the 2015 CS Finlandia Trophy, finishing fifteenth.

Spours finished fourth in the junior ladies' category at the British Championships. At the 2015 Jégvirág Cup, she won the gold medal and achieved the minimum technical scores to compete at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. As a result, she was named in the British team to senior Worlds, despite not appearing nationally on the senior level. She placed thirty-sixth in Boston.

2016–2017 season
Spours began the season by competing on the Junior Grand Prix series, finishing thirteenth at the 2016 JGP France. She then competed competed on the senior level at the 2016 CS Lombardia Trophy, where she placed twelfth.

Spours went on to win a silver at the Denkova-Staviski Cup and bronze at the Merano Cup on the senior levels, as well as a gold medal at the 2016 Grand Prix of Bratislava on the junior level. In December 2016, she won the junior ladies' title and placed fifth on the senior level at the 2017 British Championships. She then won the silver in the senior ladies' category at Skate Helena and finished tenth at the 2017 International Challenge Cup.

In March, she placed sixteenth in the short program, fourteenth in the free skate, and fifteenth overall at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.

2017–18 season
Competing on the Junior Grand Prix series, Spours placed thirteenth at 2017 JGP Austria and fourteenth at 2017 JGP Italy. Meanwhile, on the senior level, she would finish eighteenth at the 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy, fifth at the 2017 Golden Bear of Zagreb, and fourth at the 2017 Merano Cup.

At the 2018 British Championships, Spours won her second consecutive national title on the junior level as well as won the bronze medal on the senior level.

Selected to compete at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, Spours finished twenty-first.

Following the season, Spours left coach, Ruth Woodstock, to train at the Lee Valley Ice Centre full-time under Christian Newberry.

2018–19 season
Spours began the season on the Junior Grand Prix series, finishing thirteenth at the 2018 JGP Slovakia. She then went on to win the bronze medal at the 2018 Volvo Open Cup on the senior level.

At the 2019 British Championships, Spours won her third junior national title as well as her second consecutive bronze medal on the senior level. Spours would then go on to finish sixth on the senior level at the 2019 Dragon Trophy.

Competing at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, Spours finished twentieth.

Following the season, Spours relocated her training base to Vaujany, France, where Florent Amodio and Sofia Gassoumi became her new coaches.

2019–20 season
Spours had to miss the whole 2019–20 figure skating season due to a spinal injury that she sustained while training in France, leaving her without feeling in her left leg. She stated that her doctors told her that she could either have them operate on her, which would mean the end of her figure skating career, or she could undergo physiotherapy, which would be a long process and might not work. Ultimately Spours chose to undergo physiotherapy, saying "If it gave me even a 10 per cent chance of skating again, then I was going to go for it."

Spours would spend two years doing physiotherapy and relearning how to skate.

2020–21 season
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spours only got the opportunity to compete at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, finishing eleventh.

2021–22 season
Prior to the start of the season, Spours made a coaching change, announcing that she would split her time training under Phillip Harris in Nottingham, England and Franca Bianconi and Ondřej Hotárek in Bergamo, Italy.

Spours began the season with a nineteenth-place finish at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy and eighth at the 2021 Budapest Trophy. She then went on to win the gold medal at the 2021 Tirnavia Ice Cup as well as place twenty-third at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria.

At the 2022 British Championships, Spours finished fourth, before closing the season with a silver medal at the 2022 Triglav Trophy.

Following the season, Spours moved to Swindon, England, with Christopher Boyadji and Zoe Jones becoming her new coaches.

2022–23 season
Spours began the season with a twelfth-place finish at the 2022 CS Nepela Memorial, a seventh-place finish at the 2022 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, and a thirteenth-place finish at the 2022 CS Ice Challenge.

At the 2023 British Championships, Spours won the silver medal behind Natasha McKay. She then won the gold medal at the 2023 EduSport Trophy and placed thirteenth at the 2023 International Challenge Cup.

Selected to compete at a World Championships for the second time in her career, in Saitama, Japan, Spours placed twenty-seventh in the short program, only 1.27 points from qualifying for the free skate.

Competitive highlights
CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.