Career
Bourne began skating at age seven. She first competed in pair skating with partner Andrew Bertleff. She later switched to ice dancing and teamed up with Victor Kraatz in 1991. During their career, they were coached at various times by Tatiana Tarasova, Natalia Dubova, Uschi Keszler, Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, and Nikolai Morozov. For the 1997-98 season, their free dance was modeled after Riverdance, with footwork instruction provided by Riverdance lead dancer Colin Dunne. Bourne and Kraatz became known for their deep edges and soft knees. They were credited with perfecting and popularizing the hydroblading technique.
Bourne / Kraatz missed the 2000 Four Continents and 2000 World Championships due to Bourne's knee surgery. In spring 2000, they changed coaches, moving to Tatiana Tarasova and Nikolai Morozov.
Bourne / Kraatz withdrew from their 2002 Grand Prix events due to Bourne's injury. They won their 10th Canadian national title and then took their third Four Continents title. Bourne / Kraatz went on to win gold at the 2003 World Championships. They retired from competition at the end of the season.
Bourne has skated solo in shows and tours around the world, such as Stars On Ice, Champions on Ice in North America and Japan, Art On Ice in Switzerland, the 2009 Ice All Stars and the 2010 Festa On Ice, held in Seoul, South Korea. She has also competed on figure skating reality shows like Battle of the Blades (paired with former NHL star player Claude Lemieux, finished 2nd overall) on CBC and Thin Ice on ABC (paired with American pair skater John Zimmerman, finished 2nd overall).
Read more about this topic: Shae-Lynn Bourne
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