ISU Grand Prix: World number ones Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson relishing Sheffield event

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson have two Grand Prix bronzes and one silver

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are "humbled" by the occasional comparisons with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

Now they are ice dance world number ones, those comparisons will only get more frequent.

The Britons have also started to reach high-profile podiums, giving them belief that they will be at their peak in time for the next Winter Olympics at Milan 2026 and have a chance to win the country's first figure skating gold since Torvill and Dean in 1984.

With the retirement of some leading couples and Russians being banned from the international stage because of the invasion of Ukraine, Fear says this is an "opportunity year".

She and Gibson finished second in their most recent Grand Prix event in Canada, and this weekend have the chance to showcase their talent in front of home fans in Sheffield as the UK hosts a Grand Prix - an invitational series for the world's top skaters - for the first time.

"It's so special. We never thought this chance would happen in our careers and it's just so exciting to be able to have so many family and friends come to watch us compete on such an elevated stage," Gibson, 28, told BBC Sport.

Fear and Gibson were fifth at this year's European Championships, 10th at the Winter Olympics in Beijing and sixth at the World Championships.

"Everything is exactly as it's meant to be," said 23-year-old Fear. "That was the Olympics we needed, because we are so proud of the performances and the trajectory of the season as a whole.

"We will really use it as a stepping stone for Milan and we are taking all those lessons we learned in Beijing and really using the next three and a half years to keep growing and see what's possible for us."

Inspired by Dancing on Ice - to performing on it

Any British ice dancer who does well is inevitably going to start hearing the names Torvill and Dean. Fear and Gibson have got used to it and credit them with inspiring them in the sport.

"We look up to them enormously. They continue to influence us as people and as performers," Fear said.

Fear and Gibson are not seeking to be the 'next Torvill and Dean' - they have their own brand of skating and want to make their own mark - although they wouldn't mind the legends' jobs on Dancing on Ice much further down the line.

The reality television show sparked Gibson's interest in skating when he was 11, growing up in Prestwick and more interested in football.

By contrast, USA-born Fear - the daughter of a skater and niece of an ice hockey player - started skating at two and by the time she met Gibson was a junior ice dancer when he was a single skater.

They have come a long way since their first practice together in Montreal seven years ago, which Gibson says was so "terrible" that their coach never told them just how bad it was.

They still train in the Canadian city, under Frenchman Romain Haguenauer, who coached Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron to Olympic gold this year and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to the title in 2018.

Gibson (left) says his dream celebrity dance partner is TV cook Nigella Lawson (second from left), adding: "We'd give quite a simmering routine, pardon the pun." Fear (second from right) says hers is actor Hugh Jackman (right) because "he is so deep and wise; he takes his craft so seriously".

'Annoying little sister' to best friend

Fear and Gibson have won fans with their entertaining skating, which has challenged some of the conventions of the sport - you're not going to see the type of romantic love story that used to be so common in ice dance.

Last season they danced to a Kiss medley and the Lion King, while this season's free dance is to a Lady Gaga medley featuring Born This Way.

They are clear about the message they want to give. "It's who we are as people but also as skaters in the sport, not trying to fit in a box," Fear said.

When Fear has been on dates she has sometimes had to explain that she and Gibson - who has a husband - are not together, "just to reassure them because they assume so many of the couples do date".

"We just have our relationship and love for one another, which is Lilah's love for Lewis and vice-versa," she said.

"We never really defined it. It's just something that has grown over the years of skating together - from me being [like] an annoying little sister because of our five- or six-year age gap to being like best friends and bringing the best out of each other every day on the ice."

From Beijing to Milan via Sheffield

Fear and Gibson talk about learning from their 2022 Olympic experience, but what was it in particular that has stuck with them?

"Ice is ice - whether it's the Olympics or training on a Tuesday," said Fear.

"That's reassuring going into any huge event because it's up to you what you decide to do on that ice. It's very empowering to know that."

They feel confident going on to the ice of Sheffield, which will also host the European Championships in 2026, a few weeks before the Milan Olympics.

Fear and Gibson's target this weekend, though, will be to do well enough to boost their bid to qualify for December's lucrative Grand Prix final in Turin.

To coin a line from the lyrics of Born This Way, they are on the right track.

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