Robin John Cousins MBE[3] (born 17 August 1957) is a British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980.
Robin Cousins was born in Bristol to Jo, a secretary, and Fred, a civil servant,[5] who was formerly a goalkeeper for Millwall F.C.
He reached the pinnacle of his amateur career by winning gold medals both in the European Championships and in the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.
[11] The silver medalist Hoffmann skated a technically superior performance, but six out of nine judges gave first place to Cousins, giving him the overall win and the gold medal.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to ice skating in the 1980 Birthday Honours.
Over several years, Cousins has been a regular guest presenter and commentator for BBC Sport, for the European and World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympics.
He played the Prince in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Munkustrap in Cats, Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Teen Angel in Grease, and Billy Flynn in Chicago in the West End.
[17] In May 2021, Cousins was elected as Vice Chair of the British Ice Skating board for a 4-year term and appointed as its President.
[citation needed] On 10 March 2012, he appeared on the gameshow All Star Family Fortunes with his nephews Tristan, Robin, James and Oliver.
Cousins is a significant patron of the Meningitis UK organization and the Starr Trust children's charity in Brighton.