Fear & Gibson – the best friends who keep rivals close

Even their coach did not reveal how disastrous the first training between Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson in Montreal was ten years ago when they were unaware of how disastrous it had been.

Gibson was a novice ice dancer, despite the fact that Fear was a junior.

Although he was a singles skater, converting jumps into jives is not his thing of the past.

They won a medal at the World Championships for the first time since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean did it in 1984, taking bronze on Saturday.

At the top of the game, Fear and Gibson practice at the Ice Academy in Montreal, where nine of their past ten ice dance gold medal winners have been from top couples.

Fear describes the environment as “creative, collaborative, and competitive.”

The 25-year-old told BBC Sport earlier this year, “I think the word that comes to mind is motivating because we are training alongside our top competitors.” And when you see what they have and what they’re working on, everyone around them is forced to step up.

We all have a friendship and a spirit of encouragement. Additionally, it is a truly exceptional setting. And I wouldn’t exchange it for the world.

Romain Haguenauer and the renowned coach who collaborated there had a “terrible” first practice session together in Montreal, and he was the one who kept his true opinions at bay.

We always felt his conviction and encouragement to really try to go as far as we could, Gibson said in a previous interview. There were perhaps some small passive jokes.

It just seems like there are endless possibilities, and I believe that is what he really taught us, and that also has helped us develop that hard work ethic.

Gibson, a gifted artist who enjoys DIY, drawing, and interior design, has also been able to use creativity on the ice, which Haguenauer has actively encouraged.

Fear claims that their coach will always ask, “Why not?” “to fresh ideas.

Fear, like Gibson, is also very creative, creating her own outfit for their free dance this year.

In that context, it should come as no surprise that, in 2018, they decided to reverse the trend and engaged in a fun disco-style free dance while many of their rivals stoked the more serious classical music.

The “Disco Brits” started to win national championships and finish sixth overall at the Europeans that year as the crowds grew on board with them.

Fear and Gibson have gained notoriety for their high-energy performances, which have delighted audiences because they consistently appear to be enjoying themselves with their best friend.

They are in truth.

Gibson has previously expressed his joy at performing, whether it was dancing with his father or posting humorous social media posts.

At the age of 21, he decided to switch to ice dancing because of the difficulty of consistently performing the big jumps in single and pair skating.

Even though he was a natural, he raced through three badges during one of his first beginner sessions, and he had been a late starter in figure skating, only starting out when he was 11 years old.

He and Fear won the British ice dance championship and were accepted to the European Championships in their first season of dancing together in 2016/17.

When not on the ice, Fear enjoys performing in front of cameras, either singing or presenting podcasts.

She produces and edits her own podcasts, which feature topics ranging from athletes to authors to business owners, as a psychology student with a thirst for knowledge.

I just really have felt the influence of role models in my own life, Tessa Virtue, the Canadian Olympic ice dance champion, said. And I want to be able to share those stories with people in a variety of crafts from around the world so they can “spark something in them.”

Gibson has a guest appearance on her show, revealing his love for haggis and fudge and having his hometown’s latitude and longitude tattooed on his shoulder, Prestwick, Scotland.

There are a few basic requirements when it comes to choosing the music for their dances.

Fear said, “We choose the one that gets us the most excited and where we think, oh, yeah, we want to skate to that every morning when it’s freezing at 7am, and we get to hear it over and over again,”

This season, that means a Beyonce medley for the free dance, which also includes Halo, which has allowed them to show off their emotional side before the iconic struts to Crazy in Love.

Fear said, “It [Halo] really evokes something in us, and we really believe in the message of finding our inner light, letting who we are shine through, and overcoming all the barriers that you’ve put up along the way,” “Fear said.

With the looming Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina ahead, success at the World Championships has come at the ideal moment.

Fear and Gibson have made it clear that their goal is to win their first British Olympic figure skating medal since 1994 by placing 10th overall at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Ten years after their famous gold, Torvill and Dean won a bronze medal, and the skating legends have frequently encouraged Fear and Gibson, who have both won three consecutive European championships, in their own words.

After carrying that burden for so many decades, Torvill and Dean have expressed their hope for a new couple who can advance British ice dancing.

This will likely create momentum, Dean said last month to BBC Sport.

In order to advance the future of British ice skating, Lilah and Lewis can hopefully do just that. “Success breeds success, but you need to have someone doing that first.”