Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear sparkle in front of 'overwhelming' home crowd in Sheffield
BySportsbeat
Updated 12/11/2022 at 23:31 GMT
The world No.1 pairing, who finished 10th at this year's Winter Olympics in Beijing, celebrated the first Grand Prix event to ever be held in Britain by racking up a score of 85.37 in Saturday's rhythm dance event in Sheffield. Fear said: "It was crazy stepping out onto the ice and having people cheer for us already. It was emotional and overwhelming."
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain compete in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance during the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating at iceSheffield on November 12, 2022 in Sheffield, England
Image credit: Getty Images
Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear overcame a 'crazy' and 'emotional' home ice experience to soar into second-place at the Grand Prix MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield.
The world No.1 pairing, who finished 10th at this year's Winter Olympics in Beijing, celebrated the first Grand Prix event to ever be held in Britain by racking up a score of 85.37 in Saturday's rhythm dance event.
Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri topped the table with a haul of 86.30 points while Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were third.
Gibson, 28, and Fear, 23, will now bid for a medal in Sunday's free dance and hope maximising the benefits of the 'overwhelming' home support can help propel them towards a podium in Yorkshire.
Fear said: "It was crazy stepping out onto the ice and having people cheer for us already.
"We're used to seeing this for competitors in other countries, so it was emotional and overwhelming to see that for ourselves."
Fellow Brit, Natasha McKay admits she will forever savour her Sheffield experience after grabbing a season's best score in the women's short programme later in the afternoon.
The Scot, who finished 28th in Beijing, earned 57.62 points as Japanese star Mai Mihara topped the table with 72.23.
American ace Isabeau Levito is second while Georgian Anastasia Gubanova is third.
McKay, 28, said: "That was incredible - I absolutely loved it.
"I think that's the most fun I've ever had on the ice."
In the pairs free skate later in the evening, British duo Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby also claimed a season's best result.
They scored 93.52 points as Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier grabbed gold ahead of Italians Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii and Germans Letizia Roscher and Luis Schuster.
Vaipan-Law and Digby claimed an overall score of 143.81 after the short programme and free skate to finish sixth in the standings.
And Vaipan-Law, 23, said: "The crowd has been amazing.
"It's been such a special event and one we won't forget - we felt like we could really enjoy our skate today, while yesterday was full of emotion.
"We're looking forward to keep on boosting our scores."
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