Fear and Gibson: British pair can win still 2026 Olympic medal – if they are flawless
While debriefing Monday’s event, I asked former Olympic figure skating champion Robin Cousins what Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson need to do to win an ice dancing medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
After a short pause, he gave a short answer: “They have to be perfect.”
Fear and Gibson, who are aiming to become the first Briton to win an Olympic figure skating medal since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994, are fourth after the rhythm dance.
In the first half of the ice dancing competition in Milan-Cortina, they performed with their popular Spice Girls mash-up but fell short of the season-best score they achieved in the team event three days earlier.
Fear, 26, lost her balance a little at one point, but she and her partner recovered well to keep themselves firmly in the hunt for a podium finish.
Their score of 84.57 points left them 0.71 points behind third-place Canadian duo Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who participated in Wednesday’s free dance where the medals will be determined.
Gold and silver are probably out of reach. France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron lead with a huge score of 90.18. World champions and pre-event favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who have already won gold in the team competition for the USA, are in second place with 89.72.
But the bronze remains in the hands of Fear and Gibson.
‘Disco Brits’ are the darlings of British figure skating, as seen at last month’s European Championships in Sheffield.
You can have your photo taken at the arena with a fun beach style cut; your face over Fear and Gibson’s bodies.
Their Spice Girls-themed routine received applause from the group’s official account on Instagram.
There were even misty-eyed stories about how Fear was a flower girl when the European Figure Skating Championships were last held in Sheffield in 2012.
But amidst all the glitz and hype, the harsh reality is that while they are certainly good enough for a medal, this is such a competitive field that any mistake is costly.
Fear and Gibson won bronze in Sheffield but there could have been more, maybe there should have been. In just the second part of nine of his freestyle routines, Gibson slipped into slightly synchronized vibes and struck gold.
