AS Olympic fever grips the nation, Bournemouth is playing host to a whole troupe of Olympic standard skaters who are appearing in Beauty and the Beast on Ice at the Bournemouth International Centre.

It is easy to get blasé about the 300-plus competition medals the Russian Ice Stars have notched up between them and take for granted the death-defying, jaw-dropping stunts and incredible grace, artistry and athleticism that goes into each magical performance.

But the moment you step a toe on the ice to join them- as I did last week, you soon appreciate that these are people who have taken theatre on ice to the most exciting, demanding and clearly dangerous limits of human ability and endurance.

A complete ice skating novice, it dawned on me I was foolishly asking for trouble when I agreed to skate with the show's star Olga Pershankova, who plays Beauty, and senior skater, technical advisor and assistant choreographer Mikhail (or Misha) Stifoulnine who plays her father.

Both have competed at world championships and done all the Olympic training at special "boot camps".

Misha was world champion at student and junior level. Olga was selected for the Russian Olympic team but had to pull out after a collision in training resulted in a serious injury.

She has gone on to star as the principal skater in many ice shows: Carmen, Phantom of the Opera, Barnum, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Peter Pan.

Still, they were happy to humour me looking like a cross between the new-born Bambie wobbling on his legs and someone who has had half a dozen drinks too many. "At least you can stand up on the ice, which is more than many people can," they told me.

Before long they had me skating round the ice at what must have been a snail's pace to them but felt surprisingly fast to me. And while I don't believe I have an athletic bone in my body, Misha helped me to do a hand lift or two with him while spinning clockwise and then counter-clockwise. I was so dizzy I needed to stand still until the BIC had stopped whirling around me. How do they do so many, many spins in this show?

Of course, a lifetime of training has gone in to what audiences are seeing at the Windsor Hall from these skaters. Olga told me that every single Russian skater, without exception, has trained from early childhood with the Olympics as their goal.

"Every sportsman in the USSR has the same ambition. Most of the company has competed in the European and World championships. The Olympics only comes round every four years and we suffer a lot of injuries so it's just a matter of luck if you get chance to compete."

Misha explained that you are only allowed to take part in the Student Olympics (once every two years) if you are at university - which he won twice at the ages of 19 and 21.

Even after I left the ice, members of the company were rehearsing for the matinee performance, which they do for two or three hours a day on top of the two performances. As we chatted and they tried out new and challenging feats I saw three fall down on the ice but get straight back up again.

The BIC rink is 17m wide by 15 deep - most theatre venues are typically 12m by 12m so Misha said it was nice to be able to skate at speed and not have to put so much energy into breaking so much.

Both Olga and Misha have been skating since they were five, when it seems their future was mapped out for them. "It was my parents' ambition, says Olga. "They took me to skating school because I was unhealthy - always catching flu - and I was also very hyperactive and they decided to channel it! "Because we have proper winters in Russia it was an easy decision. There are a lot of winter sports and the coaches started to say I had some kind of future. So at six years old I went to a proper skating club.

"After one year, aged seven, I realised I really, really liked it and didn't want to quit. In Russia in those days we would train with groups of 20 children and we wanted to become the best in our group. For people who become sportsmen it is in their blood. "Misha and I are very competitive people. You must be like that to compete in sport. As I got older it was about achieving something for myself and doing the best I can."

Olga, 36, has been skating with a back injury and also has her five-year-old daughter Sofia to care for so in three weeks time at the end of this tour she says she will retire. Her job is always demanding. "When it's windy and raining everyone wants to sleep but you must lift their spirits. You must always give 100 per cent and smile. Winning medals and standing on the podium feels good but doing the shows is rewarding too."

What is best - competitions or shows? "Both," says Olga. "It is both about winning. You can tell by the energy of the applause if the audience like you - it is really like being on the podium. On the podium you do it for yourself but here you do it for the audience."