Eight-year-old British skater heads to world championships

The Costa del Sol's Summer Jones will compete for Spain in Italy for the open inline figure skating competition

Anthony Piovesan

Manilva

Friday, 28 June 2024, 14:01

An eight-year-old British girl living on the Costa del Sol is in her final preparations before she makes a dash for Italy to compete in the World Open Inline Figure Skating Championships.

Summer Jones, who will compete in Fasano in Italy's southern region of Puglia on 4 July, had only been skating for four months when Manilva Skating Academy selected her to fly the flag for Spain.

She is the youngest among four other girls from the academy to make the journey across the Mediterranean next week.

Summer's mother Louise Jones told SUR she is "extremely proud" of her daughter.

"She's only been skating for six months, this is a massive achievement," she said.

The British expat from Manchester who now lives in San Martin del Tesorillo, just outside the municipality of Manilva, said she first purchased a pair of skates for Summer's sixth birthday in December in 2022.

"She used them a couple of times but then they went in the garage along with all the other children's paraphernalia," Jones said.

"It wasn't until her birthday last December when I went to Summer and I said I was going to sell them in preparation for buying her something else for her seventh birthday. Then she started using them and was really good and fast and she was already doing turns."

Jones then spotted a poster in the town centre advertising the Manilva Skating Academy and enrolled Summer.

"Everyone's shocked by how good she actually is," she said.

In preparation for the world championships, Summer practises twice a week with her coach, and every day at home.

"She's practically got the skates on every day," Jones said. "Each day she goes down to the local square and practices."

While still extremely early in her skating journey, Jones said she's unsure if Summer wants to continue pursuing the sport, but for now, wants her daughter to have fun and create special memories.

The World Open Inline Figure Skating Championships is in its 13th year. This year, teams from Italy, Spain, Peru, Ireland, England, France, Belgium, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Mauritius, Moldova and Czechia will compete before a panel of 12 international judges.

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