Fear & Gibson in contention for GB’s first European gold since Torvill & Dean

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are in contention for Great Britain’s first gold medal at the European Figure Skating Championships in 32 years after a thrilling performance in the first stage of the ice dance competition.

The British pair wowed the Sheffield crowd with a flawless performance to a Spice Girls medley, capped with a complex rotational lift at the end.

They earned a season-best score of 85.47 points, putting them second on the leaderboard before tomorrow’s free dance.

British skaters have not won an event at the Europeans since Dame Jayne Torvill and Sir Christopher Dean in the ice dance in 1994.

The pair, known as the ‘Disco Brits’ for their flashy and confident performances -Fear was in a sparkling Union Jack dress here, reminiscent of Ginger Spice – brought their very best for the delighted home crowd at Utilita Arena.

“Even when I was warming up backstage with headphones on I could hear the crowd, I knew it would be fun,” Fear told the media conference afterwards.

They scored positively in all five elements and particularly impressed with their opening sequential twizzles and step sequence.

The British pair are 1.5 points behind leaders Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France, and ahead of reigning European champions Marco Fabbri and Charlene Guignard of Italy.

Fabbri, 37, and 35-year-old Guignard are the oldest male and female skaters at these championships, and are returning to Sheffield where they competed in their very first European Championship together back in 2012.

At those championships, Fear was a flower girl and Gibson was a spectator. Tomorrow, they could be champions.

“I maybe gave Charlene flowers!” said Fear. “I was just in awe of all these skaters, thinking maybe I could do that.

Fear and Gibson are not the only British team to progress to the finals, after the young duo of Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez produced a name-making display on the international stage.

Aged 20 and 24 respectively, Bekker and Hernandez earned 11th place with a season-best score of 71.64 with a routine, to Freedom by George Michael, full of fun and energy and which was exceptionally popular with the flag-waving home crowd.

The pair, who will also be competing at the 2026 Olympics, said they were able to use both the crowd and comparatively lower pressure to their advantage.

“I was the least nervous I have ever been,” Bekker said afterwards. “There was almost no pressure, we had nothing to prove to the crowd.

“Our coach said we are here to enjoy it and the score doesn’t matter. It was exciting pressure.”

“We were so focused on each other, but we were aware of the noise,” added Hernandez. “You couldn’t ignore all the flags, all the people cheering.

French ice dancers Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron had arrived at Utilita Arena as the team to beat and proved it with a flawless showing for a score of 86.93.

The duo only teamed up in March but have had a dazzling debut on the Grand Prix circuit and brought that form to the continental stage with a performance to a remix of Vogue by Madonna.

Their routine had less speed and abandon than many of their opponents, but it was clean and precise, bringing the Yorkshire crowd to their feet.

It was a battle of French elegance versus British flair and bodes well for a fascinating battle in Milan.

And for Olympic ice dancing champion Cizeron, it was a welcome break from off-ice issues – earlier this week he accused former partner Gabriella Papadakis of spreading false information about him in a “smear campaign”.

Fear and Gibson were the penultimate team to perform of the 28 pairs in the rhythm dance section, with the top 20 qualifying for the free dance – where the medal places are decided – on Saturday evening.

While rhythm dance had a specific theme set by the International Skating Union (ISU) for direct comparison, free dance allows the skaters full creative freedom in their routines.