Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear land knockout podium blow at 2023 Skate Canada International in Vancouver

BySportsbeat

Updated 29/10/2023 at 17:14 GMT

Taking to the ice accompanied by music from the iconic Rocky films, the British duo earned an impressive free dance score of 209.55 to finish 10 points behind Canadian champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The British duo kicked off their season by securing a superb silver medal in Vancouver on Saturday night. Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius bagged bronze

Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear

Image credit: Getty Images

Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear reckon their Rocky-inspired routine helped them land a knockout podium blow at Skate Canada International.

The British duo kicked off their season by securing a superb silver medal in Vancouver on Saturday night.

Taking to the ice accompanied by music from the iconic boxing-themed Rocky films, Gibson and Fear racked up an impressive free dance score of 209.55 to finish 10 points behind Canadian champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

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The home pairing's triumph marked their fourth Skate Canada title on the spin as Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius bagged bronze.

Gibson, 29, and Fear, 24, have now claimed a hat-trick of World Grand Prix silver medals and Fear says their inspired choice of music perfectly epitomised their partnership.

She said: "We like to just show our personality and what we're drawn to and we know that everyone in the crowd loves Rocky, hopefully as we do.

"Just the themes are so universal of believing in yourself, overcoming adversity, and finding that triumph by believing in yourself.

"I think that we relate to that so much and everyone does in their own way. A lot of people have connected with this program and we've had a lot of great reinforcement and can't wait to build upon it."

Elsewhere, two-time reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori sealed a statement victory in the women's event.

The Japanese star, 23, triumphed by an emphatic 25 points over Republic of Korea's Kim Chae-yeon and Japanese team-mate Matsuike Rino.

Rino, 19, delivered a dazzling display on the Canadian ice but Kaori responded with a formidable free skate score of 151.00 to add another title to her collection.

And she said: "Today I performed exactly the way that I wanted to.

"So I'm really feeling serene about the result. I think I have a lot to improve on... [but] I am really, really happy."

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