"I remember having the top score on one of the arcade games there, Galaga it was," he said. "I would pinch 20-cent coins out of mum's wallet and adults would stand around me because they couldn't believe a kid so young could be so good." Steven Bradbury won the 1991 Relaying World Championships at Macquarie Ice Rink at just 17 years old. Mr Bradbury won the 1991 Relaying World Championships at Macquarie Ice Rink at just 17 years old. "It always felt that bit classier," he said. "The news that it is going is obviously disappointing. It's just sad to see how many sports spaces have been gobbled up due to the ridiculous demand for real estate across Australia." Steven Bradbury crosses the line in first place in the men's 1000m speed skating final during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Credit:Stephen Munday

Chantelle Kerry, who is currently the two-time Australian ice dance champion, along with her partner, Andrew Dodds, stood on the rink early on Thursday morning and cried, explaining how her Olympic dreams, to follow in Bradbury's footsteps to the gold from Macquarie Ice Rink, were now in tatters. "This is the biggest time of year, and to hear the news on Wednesday was just devastating," she said. Chantelle Kerry and Andrew Dodds at Macquarie Ice Rink on Thursday. Credit:Brook Mitchell Ms Kerry's older brother Brendan is a two-time Olympian. Both have trained here since they were old enough to walk. "This is the best rink, we teach here, we train here, I want to be able to pass it on to the next generation and this rink gives us that opportunity," Ms Kerry, 22, said.

Mr Dodds moved down to Sydney from the Gold Coast to train for the 2022 Beijing Olympics with Ms Kerry, a dream he said could now be "cut short". Loading "I moved down here for the opportunity that this ice rink gives me," he said. "Everyone in the skating community around Australia has been a part of this rink at some point, it is all a part of us, and we are all feeling it today." The pair is coached by Ms Kerry's father, John Dunn, who manages the ice rink with wife Monica. Mr Dunn said the loss of the rink will be devastating to the community and to the thousands of kids who flock there to learn during the school holidays.

"This isn't just about the elite levels, it's about getting kids off iPhones and computers, giving them exercise and somewhere they feel safe and they can pursue and do an activity, not just about the Olympics," he said. "Everybody is up for the fight, we've got to make sure we keep the pressure up on the right people for the next year." Alissa Pfitzner, 44, who currently competes at a national level in the adult synchronised skating team, brings her six-year-old daughter Scarlett to children's classes in the hope she will fall in love with skating as she has. Alissa Pfitzner and her daughter Scarlett at Macquarie Ice Rink on Thursday. Credit:Brook Mitchell "She was three when she first came to a class at Macquarie Ice Rink after she said she wanted to skate after seeing mummy compete," she said.

"I couldn't believe the news when I started receiving messaging from friends about the news of the demolition. I want my daughter to have the opportunity to do what she loves here." William Badaoui, 20, and Matilda Friend, 19, are also hoping to head to the 2022 Beijing Olympics. They believe the plans are an "absolute disaster" for the community and elite skaters. Matilda Friend and William Badaoui at Macquarie Ice Rink on Thursday. Credit:Brook Mitchell "I wouldn't be surprised if some of the kids who come here just don't pursue their dreams of a professional career after the demolition," Ms Friend said. "Skaters just won't know where to go from here." Owner Frank Gregg says he is "devastated" about the news and is also worried about what effects the demolition will have on the future of ice skating in Australia.

Loading "I was only told just a matter of days ago, very recently," he said. "It's all about my lease, it runs for another 12 months, so I believe they were just trying to work out when to break the topic to me, and it's come out now with a year to go." Dr Gregg opened the rink almost 40 years ago in the hopes the rink would provide for both elite skaters and the community. Last year, he completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of the rink, unaware of the news that would follow shortly after. "They've been very secretive about it, but it got to the stage where they had to come out and they have," he said. "The community is horrified, obviously from the millions I spent, it's pretty obvious I believe in the rink and in ice skating."