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Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson celebrate bronze in Boston - AP/Charles Krupa
Figure skaters Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson have won Great Britain’s first World Championship medal in the sport since the great era of Torvill and Dean.
The pair secured bronze in Boston in a long-awaited podium place, 41 years after Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won their fourth global title.
“I can’t even describe my feelings, I’m still shaking,” said Fear afterwards. “I’m in disbelief.”
Gold was taken by the Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who have now won the world title in ice dance in every season of this Olympic cycle.
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Fear and Gibson improved on two previous fourth-place finishes at the worlds - Getty Images/Maddie Meyer
The pair are the first ice-dancers to win three world titles in a row since Russians Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov claimed four in a row between 1994 and 1997.
Chocka and Bates won both Friday’s rhythm dance and Saturday’s free dance, totalling 222.06 points and distancing silver medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada by 5.52.
Fear, 25, and Gibson, 30, secured a total score of 207.11 points, having finished fourth at the previous two World Championships.
“It’s a dream come true,” Gibson said. The Britons are three-time European medallists. Earlier this season, they claimed Britain’s first ever medal at the Grand Prix final. Fellow Britons Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez placed 17th.
Torvill, half of Britain’s greatest-ever skating pair, is a big fan of Fear and Gibson, previously saying the pair had “taken ice dancing in Great Britain to another level”.
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Iconic British pair Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won their fourth world title in Ottawa 41 years ago - Getty Images/Focus On Sport
The World Championships is a qualifying event for next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina. Chock and Bates, meanwhile, go into the Olympic season bidding to become the oldest ice-dance champions.
“I would say never say never (about competing beyond 2026), but at this point we’re putting all of our chips on the table for next season,” Bates has said. “We have been so focused on just absolutely maximizing our potential for Boston, for the next 12 months. We’re going to treat it like it’s our last shot.”
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