 Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson at the2019 Skate Canada International | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1999-06-11)11 June 1999 (age 26) Greenwich, Connecticut, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Great Britain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Ice dance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Lewis Gibson (since 2016) Jacob Payne (2013–15) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Romain Haguenauer Patrice Lauzon Marie-France Dubreuil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Alexandra Palace London | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Began skating | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medal record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lilah Fear (born 11 June 1999) is a British-Canadianice dancer. Representing Great Britain with her skating partner,Lewis Gibson, she is the2025 World bronze medalist; theirs was the first World medal for Britain in 41 years. As well, Gibson is a two-timeEuropean silver medalist (2023–24), an ten-timeGrand Prix medalist (including four gold), a seven-timeISU Challenger Series gold medalist, and a seven-timeBritish national champion (2017, 2019–2020, 2022–2025).
Fear was born on 11 June 1999 inGreenwich, Connecticut, United States,[1] to Canadian parents.[2] Her mother is a former figure skater, and her uncle a formerice hockey player.[3] She was raised in London, England, and attendedSouth Hampstead High School.[4][5] Fear is a dual British-Canadian citizen.[6] She has an older sister, and a younger sister,Sasha, who competed in ice dance for Great Britain with her former partnerGeorge Waddell.
In the autumn of 2018, she began studying psychology and communications atMcGill University inMontreal.[2]
Fear began learning to skate in 2004.[1] In the 2013–14 season, she and Jacob Payne won the novice ice dancing title at theBritish Championships.
In2014–15, Fear/Payne received twoJunior Grand Prix assignments and placed fifteenth at both. In November 2014, they were awarded the junior bronze medal at theBritish Championships. They were coached byPhillip Poole inSlough, England.[7]
Fear began a partnership withLewis Gibson, coached by Karen Quinn at the Alexandra Palace Ice Rink in London, England,[4] and byRomain Haguenauer inMontreal,Quebec, Canada.[8] The duo made their international debut in late July 2016 at theLake Placid Ice Dance International, finishing eleventh. Ranked second in both segments, they received the silver medal at aChallenger Series event, theLombardia Trophy in September. They placed fifth at theInternational Cup of Nice and fourth at theOpen d'Andorra. In December, they won theBritish national title, in the absence of longtime championsCoomes/Buckland, and silver at theSanta Claus Cup in Hungary.
In January 2017, Fear/Gibson qualified to the final segment at theEuropean Championships inOstrava, Czech Republic; they ranked nineteenth in the short dance, fourteenth in the free dance, and fifteenth overall. They made theirWorld Championship debut later that season, placing twenty-second.
Beginning their second season together, Fear/Gibson placed sixth at theInternational Cup of Nice and won silver medals at theOpen d'Andorra and theIce Challenge. They competed in three Challenger events that season, placing ninth at both the2017 CS Finlandia Trophy and2017 CS Lombardia Trophy and fourth at the2017 CS Warsaw Cup. Competing at the British Championships, they won the silver medal, this time behind a returning Coomes/Buckland. They subsequently competed again at theSanta Claus Cup, placing fourth.
At the end of the season, they were again sent as Great Britain's representation to the2018 World Championships, placing twenty-fourth.
Wanting to challenge themselves, Fear/Gibson selected for their free dance adisco medley of songs byDonna Summer andEarth, Wind and Fire. Both professed as well to be fans of the genre.[2] 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."[9] The free dance proved to be a huge success with audiences, facilitating what would be a dramatic rise up the international standings, and the team was nicknamed the "Disco Brits" by skating fans.[10] Fear later credited the music selection as "a lucky choice, and from there, it completely redirected us to where we see ourselves going, what we feel is our style and what makes us unique."[11]
Fear/Gibson began their season with two Challenger assignments, placing fourth at the2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and fifth at the2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy. In October 2018, the two finished fifth at the2018 Skate America – theirGrand Prix debut. A month later, they improved their placement by finishing fourth at the2018 NHK Trophy, achieving new personal bests in the free dance and overall score, and ranking second in the free dance.
After winning their second British national title, Fear/Gibson next competed at the2019 European Championships, placing seventh in the rhythm dance and sixth in the free, for sixth place overall. They were pleased with the result, Gibson commenting that they "came in with the goal of a top-ten finish after we came 15th two years ago. Now we’ve managed to get two spots for Great Britain next year, which is really exciting."[12] At the2019 World Championships, they placed thirteenth, having made the free dance for the first time.
After the success of their disco free dance the previous season, Fear and Gibson chose aMadonna medley for their new free dance, aiming to continue the momentum of past success with audience-pleasing choices. For the rhythm dance, required to be musical-themed, Gibson identified tracks fromThe Blues Brothers. Fear remarked that they "knew that could get the crowd on its feet, hopefully, and people would be tapping their toes."[11]
Fear/Gibson began the season on theChallenger series, winning the silver medal at the2019 CS Autumn Classic International after placing fifth in the rhythm dance and second in the free dance. At their second Challenger, the2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, they placed sixth in the rhythm dance and third in the free, for fourth place overall. Assigned to twoGrand Prix events, they began at2019 Skate Canada International, where they placed fourth in the rhythm dance and third in the free skate, taking the bronze medal. This was the team's first Grand Prix medal and the first for a British team since2014. Gibson remarked: "For us, this is huge. We didn't expect it."[13][14] Competing again at theNHK Trophy, they were fourth in the rhythm dance, earning a perfect score on the Finnsteppattern dance for the first time.[15] They were third in the free dance, remaining in fourth place overall.[16]
At the2020 British Championships, Fear/Gibson placed first in the rhythm dance even though Fear had fallen out of the twizzles and placed first in the free winning their third national title by 73.37 points.[17] In what proved to be their final event of the season, they competed at the2020 European Championships and placed sixth in the rhythm dance, with Fear losing a twizzle level and them getting only one of the four key points on the Finnstepppattern dance.[18] Fifth in the free dance, they rose to fifth place overall.[19] They had been assigned to compete at theWorld Championships inMontreal, but these were cancelled as a result of thecoronavirus pandemic.[20]
Fear/Gibson were assigned to the2020 Skate Canada International, but this event was also cancelled due to the pandemic.[21] As there were no British championships for the season as a result of the pandemic, on December 3, they were named to Britain's team for theEuropean Championships, alongside Fear's younger sister Sasha.[22] The competition was cancelled on December 10.[23]
Fear/Gibson were again named to represent Britain at the2021 World Championships inStockholm, where they placed eighth in the rhythm dance before moving up to seventh place in the free dance, surpassing the Canadian teamFournier Beaudry/Sørensen by 0.04 points. Their results qualified a second dance berth for Great Britain at the following year's World Championships and the possibility of a second place at the2022 Winter Olympics inBeijing.[24]
For their new free dance for the season, Fear/Gibson choseHans Zimmer's soundtrack fromThe Lion King, citing it as a "universal" story about "finding your inner strength."[25] They selected a medley ofKISS songs for the rhythm dance, which Gibson attributed to "nostalgia and the want to entertain. That’s what we love to do."[26]
Fear/Gibson began the season at the2021 CS Finlandia Trophy, winning the bronze medal.[27] At their firstGrand Prix assignment, the2021 Skate Canada International, Fear/Gibson made errors in both segments of the competition, ending up in an unexpectedly low seventh place. Gibson said it was "not what we wanted to do, but we felt strong and connected in the free dance."[25] Following this, they dedicated intensive training time in the short interval before their second event, the2021 NHK Trophy. Third in both segments, despite a twizzle error from Gibson in the free dance, they won the bronze medal after finishing fourth in two previous appearances at the Japanese Grand Prix. Fear said, "we were really hungry to come out here to make progress, and I feel like we did that."[28]
After winning theOpen d'Andorra and their fourth British national title, Fear/Gibson were assigned to theBritish Olympic team. Gibson remarked, "to feel like years and years of hard work and dedication have paid off is truly one of the most satisfying things."[29] At the2022 European Championships, Fear/Gibson were fourth in the rhythm dance but fell to fifth place after a twizzle error from Gibson in the free dance.[30]
Competing at the2022 Winter Olympics in thedance event, Fear/Gibson were tenth in the rhythm dance.[26] They were ninth in the free dance, remaining tenth overall.[31] They finished the season at the2022 World Championships, held with the Russian dance teams absent due to theInternational Skating Union banning all Russian athletes due to their country'sinvasion of Ukraine.[32] They were seventh in the rhythm dance but rose to sixth with a new personal best in the free dance.[33][34]
Fear and Gibson selected for their free dance a medley ofLady Gaga songs, including "Born This Way" which Fear said, "we are really motivated by the message" of.[35] They began the season at the inaugural edition ofBritish Ice Skating's Britannia Cup, winning the gold medal.[36] They appeared twice on theChallenger circuit, winning gold at both the2022 CS U.S. Classic and the2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, and setting new personal bests at the latter.[27]
On theGrand Prix at the2022 Skate Canada International, the team again set new personal bests on their way to a silver medal finish.[37] Two weeks later, they were given the unique opportunity to participate in a Grand Prix event on home soil, as the British federation had stepped up to host the2022 MK John Wilson Trophy in lieu of theCup of China, which had been cancelled due to Chinese pandemic measures. Gibson "really didn't think a home Grand Prix would ever happen."[38] They placed second in the rhythm dance, 0.93 points behind ItaliansGuignard/Fabbri.[39] With the stands full of fans touting theUnion Jack and, in one instance in support of Gibson, theSaltire, both called it a remarkable experience, Fear noting "we're used to seeing that in other countries for their home teams, so the fact that it was for us was such a surprise."[40] In the free dance, Gibson lost control during their choreographic twizzle element, resulting in them scoring below their personal best, but they remained second in the segment overall to take their second silver medal. Their results qualified them for theGrand Prix Final.[41] They were the first British team to qualify for the Final sinceSinead andJohn Kerr in2009.[42]
Fear/Gibson won their fifth British national title at the beginning of December, with Gibson saying on the occasion, "it's always such a special honour to etch our names again onto one of the most prestigious trophies in Great Britain sports."[43] They were fifth in the rhythm dance at the Grand Prix Final inTurin. Fear likened the experience of the Final to "a dream inDisneyland."[44] They were fourth in the free dance and rose to fourth overall following a major error by Canadian training partnersFournier Beaudry/Sørensen, who dropped to sixth. Fear and Gibson said that they were pleased by the experience and anticipating working on their levelled elements in advance of the European Championships, where they were expected to be in medal contention.[45][46]
At the2023 European Championships inEspoo, Fear/Gibson entered hoping to challenge Guignard/Fabbri for the gold medal. They scored 84.12 in the rhythm dance, close to their personal best, finishing second in that segment behind the Italians and claiming their first European small medal.[47][48] They were second in the free dance as well, winning the silver medal, their first ISU championship medal.[49][50] This was the first European medal for a British team sinceCoomes/Buckland in2014, and the highest placement on the podium sinceTorvill/Dean's gold in1994.[51]
Fear/Gibson concluded the season at the2023 World Championships, where they finished a career-best fourth, 3.15 points back of bronze medalistsGilles/Poirier.[52]
For their free dance, Fear and Gibson used the music of theRocky film franchise, citing its themes of "overcoming adversity and finding strength."[53] "It’s so well known," Fear said. "To be able to tell that story on the ice, it’s something that we connect to as humans.”[54] In their first competition of the season, Fear/Gibson won gold at theNebelhorn Trophy for the second consecutive season.[55] Weeks later they won a secondChallenger gold at the2023 CS Nepela Memorial.[27]
On theGrand Prix, the team again began at the2023 Skate Canada International, winning the silver medal for a second consecutive year.[56] At the2023 NHK Trophy, Fear/Gibson finished second in the rhythm dance, only 0.34 points behind reigning World bronze medalistsGuignard/Fabbri, the pre-event favourites. They won the free dance with a score of 130.26, breaking the 130-point threshold for the first time, overtaking Guignard/Fabbri in the segment by a similarly narrow 0.97 points and winning the gold medal. This was their first Grand Prix victory, and the first for a British dance team.[57] They hailed the result as "a dream come true."[58]
Following their success on the Grand Prix, Fear/Gibson successfully defended their British national title once again.[59] Entering theGrand Prix Final inBeijing with hopes of building on their success at the NHK Trophy, they had serious twizzle difficulties that saw them place fourth in the rhythm dance, but nearly nine points back of third-place CanadiansGilles/Poirier. They had a strong free dance, but remained fourth overall.[60]
At the2024 European Championships inKaunas, Fear/Gibson finished second in both the rhythm dance and free dance, in the latter segment having an error on their dance spin and Fear losing a twizzle level. She noted they had "a couple of little blips, but we fought till the very end, from start to finish." They won their second consecutive European silver medal.[61] The2024 World Championships were held in Montreal, home of the team's training base. Fear/Gibson placed fourth in both segments and fourth overall, for the second year in a row.[62]
In their first international competition of the season, Fear and Gibson won gold at the2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.[27] On theGrand Prix, they entered theSkate America inAllen, Texas as the favourites for the silver medal, behind reigning World championsChock/Bates of the United States. However, Fear/Gibson won the rhythm dance segment after Chock fell, and enjoyed a margin of more than five points on the Americans going into the free dance. They came second in the free dance, but remained in first place by a margin of 0.75 points.[63] They were the first non-American dance team to win Skate America since2008.[64] The following weekend they contested a secondChallenger event, winning another gold at theCS Nepela Memorial.[27] At their second Grand Prix assignment, theFinlandia Trophy, Fear/Gibson were again not the favourites at the outset, coming second in the rhythm dance behind reigning World silver medalistsGilles/Poirier of Canada. However, the frontrunners faltered again, with Poirier falling in the free dance, and the British claimed their second Grand Prix gold of the season.[65]
Following their Grand Prix events, Fear/Gibson won their seventh British national title, equaling their idolsTorvill and Dean's tally.[66] At the2024–25 Grand Prix Final inGrenoble, Fear/Gibson finished third in the rhythm dance segment, after Gilles/Poirier finished last in the segment with another fall. Fear/Gibson were fourth in the free dance, the Canadians rebounding to come second in that segment, but the British remained in third overall and won the bronze medal. This was the first-ever British medal at the Grand Prix Final. Gibson called it "a huge achievement. It's one of those things that are in a next level to reach, and we are so pleased."[67]
Having been silver medalists at the prior two European Championships, Fear and Gibson entered the2025 edition inTallinn hoping to challenge Italian reigning championsGuignard/Fabbri for the gold.[68] However, they finished an unexpected third in the rhythm dance, behind both the Italians and the French teamLopareva/Brissaud. They rebounded somewhat in the free dance, coming second in that segment, but remained in third overall, 0.74 points behind Lopareva/Brissaud. The two expressed satisfaction in their performance in the free, Fear saying "I feel nothing but pride for ourselves."[69]
Despite the European result, Fear and Gibson expressed optimism about their chance of reaching the World podium for the first time at the2025 World Championships inBoston.[70] They came third in the rhythm dance with a score of 83.86, behind Chock/Bates and Gilles/Poirier but 0.82 points ahead of Guignard/Fabbri in fourth, the Italians having struggled with their twizzle elements. The team earned a bronze small medal for the segment.[71] Fear/Gibson had some technical issues in the free dance, including a point deduction for an extended lift, and came sixth in that segment, but their score (123.25) was sufficient to remain in third overall. This was the first World medal for a British competitor since Torvill/Dean's final gold medal in1984. Fear called it "a dream come true," while Gibson said he hoped "that there are little kids out there in Great Britain seeing this and wanting to put their skates on as well."[72]
Fear and Gibson opened the 2025-26 season with a win at the 2025 Bolero Cup in September. A few weeks later, they took their seventh consecutiveISU Challenger Series gold at2025 Nebelhorn Trophy. The following month, they placed a close second behind the new team of France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron at2025 Grand Prix de France.[73] "It's been a decade of amazing memories. We've had highs and lows, and it was fun looking through our videos from all this time together," said Fear of their 10-year-partnership.[73]
Three weeks later, Fear and Gibson won the gold at2025 NHK Trophy, thus qualifying for the 2025-26Grand Prix Final. The team posted a new personal best in the free dance. "We're both very proud of the competitions that we've had so far this season," said Gibson. "Just being able to feel more like it's our training that's in the competition has been such a big step up for us this season, and something that we definitely look to build upon for the rest of the season."[74]
| Season | Short dance | Free dance |
|---|---|---|
| 2015–2016 [83] |
| |
| 2014–2015 [7] |
|
| Season | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics | 10th | |||||||||
| World Championships | 22nd | 24th | 13th | C | 7th | 6th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | |
| European Championships | 15th | 6th | 5th | C | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | ||
| Grand Prix Final | 4th | 4th | 3rd | TBD | ||||||
| British Championships | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| GPFinland | 1st | |||||||||
| GPFrance | 2nd | |||||||||
| GPNHK Trophy | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 1st | |||||
| GPSkate America | 5th | 1st | ||||||||
| GPSkate Canada | 3rd | 7th | 2nd | 2nd | ||||||
| GPWilson Trophy | 2nd | |||||||||
| CSAutumn Classic | 2nd | |||||||||
| CSFinlandia Trophy | 9th | 3rd | ||||||||
| CSLombardia Trophy | 2nd | 9th | ||||||||
| CSNebelhorn Trophy | 4th | 4th | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||||
| CSNepela Memorial | 5th | 1st | 1st | |||||||
| CSU.S. Classic | 1st | |||||||||
| CSWarsaw Cup | 4th | |||||||||
| Bavarian Open | 1st | |||||||||
| Bolero Cup | 1st | |||||||||
| Britannia Cup | 1st | |||||||||
| Ice Challenge | 2nd | |||||||||
| Lake Placid Ice Dance | 11th | |||||||||
| Mentor Cup | 2nd | |||||||||
| Open d'Andorra | 4th | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
| Santa Claus Cup | 2nd | 4th | ||||||||
| Shanghai Trophy | 2nd | |||||||||
| Trophée Métropole Nice | 5th | 6th |
| International[85] | |
|---|---|
| Event | 14–15 |
| JGPEstonia | 15th |
| JGPGermany | 15th |
| NRW Trophy | 10th J |
| Santa Claus Cup | 11th J |
| National[85] | |
| British Champ. | 3rd J |
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 215.19 | 2023 NHK Trophy |
| Rhythm dance | TSS | 86.56 | 2023 World Championships |
| TES | 49.80 | 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | |
| PCS | 37.11 | 2024 CS Nepela Memorial | |
| Free dance | TSS | 130.26 | 2023 NHK Trophy |
| TES | 73.98 | 2023 NHK Trophy | |
| PCS | 56.28 | 2023 NHK Trophy |
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 150.46 | 2017 CS Warsaw Cup |
| Rhythm dance | TSS | 60.40 | 2017 CS Warsaw Cup |
| TES | 31.03 | 2017 CS Warsaw Cup | |
| PCS | 29.37 | 2017 CS Warsaw Cup | |
| Free dance | TSS | 90.06 | 2017 CS Warsaw Cup |
| TES | 48.96 | 2016 CS Lombardia Trophy | |
| PCS | 44.90 | 2017 CS Warsaw Cup |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 19–21, 2024 |  2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 1 | 82.22 | 1 | 124.79 | 1 | 207.01 |
| Oct 18–20, 2024 |  2024 Skate America | 1 | 83.56 | 2 | 122.82 | 1 | 206.38 |
| Oct 25–27, 2024 |  2024 CS Nepela Memorial | 1 | 85.10 | 1 | 125.55 | 1 | 210.65 |
| Nov 15–17, 2024 |  2024 Finlandia Trophy | 2 | 82.03 | 1 | 121.19 | 1 | 203.22 |
| Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024 | 2025 British Championships | 1 | 92.48 | 1 | 134.94 | 1 | 227.42 |
| Dec 5–8, 2024 |  2024–25 Grand Prix Final | 3 | 82.31 | 4 | 122.87 | 3 | 205.18 |
| Jan 28 –Feb 2, 2025 |  2025 European Championships | 3 | 81.57 | 2 | 124.45 | 3 | 206.02 |
| Mar 25–30, 2025 | 2025 World Championships | 3 | 83.86 | 6 | 123.25 | 3 | 207.11 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 5-6, 2025 | 2025 Bolero Cup | 1 | 81.30 | 2 | 118.51 | 1 | 199.81 |
| Oct 17-19, 2025 | 2025 Grand Prix de France | 1 | 84.38 | 2 | 125.86 | 2 | 210.24 |
[Fear's] parents were Canadians who had moved to Britain. Both Sasha and Lilah had dual citizenship.
