Skaters Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson's year of tantalising moments that reveal World and Olympic podium potential
Olympics.com takes a look at the incremental moments in the 12-month period between the 2022 and 2023 editions of Skate Canada that herald a potential breakthrough for the British ice dancers.
Figure Skating
Torvill and Dean, the British figure skaters who transcended the nation's sporting lexicon after winning gold at the Olympic Winter Games Sarajevo 1984, have had a rather more recent impact on the current generation of ice dancers than you'd imagine from a success story that reached its zenith 39 years ago.
Lewis Gibson, who partners Lilah Fear in ice dance, was inspired to take up the sport after watching the Dancing on Ice reality TV show in which celebrities were coached by the iconic duo to compete in a weekly knockout competition.
“I wouldn't be here if they didn't create [that]”, Gibson told Olympics.com in November 2022. “I remember watching that first episode and my mum shared with me where she was when she watched them [in 1984], so it came full circle again to start a resurgence of people skating in the UK.”
Partnering with American-born Fear, the pair have made incremental gains in becoming the first ice dancers from Great Britain to break the hiatus of world and Olympic medals in figure skating. The experience of a debut Olympics already under their belt with a 10th-place finish at Beijing 2022, can only help.
The last British Olympic figure skating medal was a bronze, won by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean at Lillehammer 1994 and the last world medal for GB in any figure skating discipline was a fourth consecutive gold for T&D at the 1984 Ottawa-held championships.
So, ahead of Fear and Gibson taking to the ice from 27-29 October at Skate Canada 2023 – the second of six figure skating competitions in the two-month-long Grand Prix series that culminates with a Grand Final – Olympics.com takes a look at the 12 months since the last edition and the moments that give British winter sports fans hope that the pair have a chance to break the world and Olympic medal drought.
Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear perform at a Team GB figure skating photocall in Sheffield
Tip of the iceberg for Gibson and Fear
The filling in a Canadian sandwich at the culmination of the 2022 edition of Skate Canada, Gibson and Fear finished second behind the pair that would go on to win the Grand Final, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, and ahead of training partners Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha.
"Our time here at Skate Canada was such a wonderful and memorable experience," posted American-born Fear, who began her career skating with Gibson in London but now trains at the renowned Ice Dance Academy of Montreal.
"We had an absolute blast with our incredible coaches and friends, and the crowd was just electric! We are leaving with grateful hearts and so much excitement leading up to our next event in Sheffield!!"
The double exclamation mark after 'Sheffield' had particular meaning. The Steel City played host to the UK's first-ever senior figure skating Grand Prix. The pair would finally get to skate in front of a roaring home crowd.
This included support from Lilah's sister and fellow world-class figure skater, Sasha Fear, who cheered loudly for her sibling, while the crowd-pleasing free-dance music favoured by the twosome had fans clapping along to the Lady Gaga medley.
"It was a dream come true for both of us," Fear said. "We had expectations that it might be a little more emotional and have so much more energy, but it exceeded even that.
"I think we both really felt the heart-warming energy from the crowd and so much support and we've never experienced an entire crowd supporting us before."
By virtue of coming second, Gibson and Fear left Sheffield with a place in the Grand Prix Final, becoming the first British team to qualify since siblings John and Sinead Kerr in 2009, securing fourth place out of the eight that qualified.
By the end of the year, Fear posted: "This Grand Prix season held so many milestones, from the first British Grand Prix, to qualifying for our first Grand Prix Final. So many memories were made that I will cherish forever."
"What a whirlwind two weeks," agreed Gibson. "First up winning our 5th national title and then on to our first Grand Prix Final. Such an honour to skate here in Italy, thank you."
The duo, who debuted at the Olympics at Beijing 2022 with a tenth-place finish, rounded out the year on a roll.
World and Olympic podium potential for Gibson and Fear
At the end of January, the pair were European silver medallists, their best-ever finish at the championship and the first British medal in eight years. Two months later came their highest World Championships finish, as they finished in fourth.
The podium is getting tantalisingly close.
“It was so overwhelming," Gibson said about the World Championships in Saitama in March. "That crowd were sensational and we're just so, so happy with our performances here in Japan. It was such an amazing way to close out a really great season for us.”
The next season is now upon them, starting with Skate Canada, and with the next Figure Skating World Championships, from 18-24 March, taking place on their home-from-home ice in Montreal, they're hoping for another step forwards, preferably upwards and onto the podium.