GB pair win first world figure skating medal since Torvill and Dean

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson won Great Britain's first figure skating World Championship medal in more than 40 years with ice dance bronze in Boston.

Not since 1984, when Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won their fourth and final global title, have British skaters stood on a world podium in any discipline.

But Fear, 25, and Gibson, 30, finally ended that wait on Saturday with a total score of 207.11 points, having finished fourth at the previous two World Championships.

American favourites Madison Chock and Evan Bates defended their title while Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took silver.

"I can't even describe my feelings, I'm still shaking," said Fear. "I'm in disbelief."

Gibson added: "It's a dream come true."

Olympians Fear and Gibson are three-time European medallists and earlier this season claimed Britain's first ever medal at the Grand Prix final.

In Boston, they had placed third after Friday's rhythm dance but while their free dance routine - soundtracked by a trio of Beyonce hits - was judged the sixth best on Saturday, their combined score was enough to land them the greatest success of their careers to date.

Fellow Britons Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez placed 17th.

Earlier this month, Torvill said Fear and Gibson had "taken ice dancing in Great Britain to another level".

The World Championships is a qualifying event for next year's Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina.

Elsewhere, US skater Ilia Malinin won a second straight men's figure skating world title with a routine which included a record-equalling six quadruple jumps.

The 20-year-old also carried off a once-banned backflip as part of his routine.

He and fourth-place finisher Adam Siao Him Fa of France became the first skaters in nearly 50 years to legally land the move at a world championships.

Who are Fear and Gibson?

Gibson played football as a youngster - until, that was, he watched the first series of Dancing On Ice.

An 11-year-old Gibson was enthralled by Torvill and Dean's ITV reality show.

The Scot, who was brought up in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, loved the thrills and spills and wanted a piece of the action for himself.

"They just looked to be having so much fun," he told BBC Sport previously. "I knew it was something I wanted to do."

In London, more than 400 miles away from Gibson's home, six-year-old Fear was already a natural on the ice.

The daughter of a figure skater and the niece of a Canadian ice hockey player, the ice rink was familiar territory. She had first learned to skate at the tender age of two.

Fear was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Canadian parents but was raised in London and has Canadian-British citizenship.

They joined forces in the 2016-17 season and represented Team GB at the Winter Olympics in 2022, where they finished tenth.

What is their style on the ice?

The ice dance duo previously described their goal as "joyful, explosive entertainment".

Torvill and Dean were famous for the Bolero. Fear and Gibson's style is octane.

They've previously performed Latin-inspired moves to Jennifer Lopez tracks, while at the worlds they went for a Beyonce medley.

Speaking previously, Gibson said: "A lot of the routines of recent times have been very slow and lyrical, but we wanted to do something fun and something that would stand out to help us make a name for ourselves.

"It's so much easier to skate with a smile on your face to that kind of music. There is a show side to it, just like Dancing On Ice."

What previous success have they had?

In December Fear and Gibson became the first British skaters to win a medal at the prestigious Grand Prix Final and were the only pair to win two Grand Prix events this season, finally beating some of the biggest rivals who have often kept them just off the podium in recent years.

After fourth place and the bronze at the last three World Championships and second place at the last two European Championships, there's real hope ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"I have felt this season that there's a little bit of a shift in the way that people perceive us," Gibson told BBC Sport in January.

Fear added: "I think it's just fuel to the fire. It adds that confidence that we have, it adds that hunger for more and for what's possible for us and also just unlocks a lot more growth for us too."

Move over Torvill and Dean?

Torvill and Dean, who won Olympic gold in 1984 and bronze in 1994, never thought they would be doing a farewell tour in 2025 still waiting for Great Britain to win another Olympic figure skating medal.

They are hoping the wait may be nearly over with the emergence of Fear and Gibson, who Torvill says have "taken ice dancing in Great Britain to another level".

Torvill and Dean have been following their progress with interest for several years since first meeting them on the ice at Alexandra Palace, when the youngsters asked them to look at the programme they were working on.

"We sort of added a few little moves here and there, but I think what struck us right at the beginning was how well matched they were as a team, in stature and personality and ability," Dean said earlier this month.

So, could Fear and Gibson's Beyonce moves be about to finally take over from Torvill and Dean's Bolero and provide some new skating role models in Britain?

"We're retiring this year, so it would be nice to just hand that on to them," Dean said.