Ice dancers Fear and Lewis Gibson in the hunt for medal after rhythm dance

Ice dancers Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are in the hunt for a first British figure skating medal in three decades, after finishing fourth in Monday’s rhythm dance.

The pair scored 85.47 for their Spice Girls medley, a crowd favourite at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, but will have to improve in Wednesday’s free dance - the second of two programmes each team must skate.

They looked slightly downbeat after a less than perfect twizzle section, but are only 0.7 points behind the Canadian pair of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier in provisional bronze.

The French team of 2022 Olympic champion Guillaume Cizeron and his new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry lead the standings with a score of 90.18, with the USA’s three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates in second place after scoring 89.72 for their Lenny Kravitz programme,

Former European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy sit fifth on 84.28, with they, the Brits and Canadians expected to do battle for the bronze medal.

Fear and Gibson, who have skated together for 10 years, are among Team GB’s best hopes for a medal at this Winter Games.

They ended a 41-year-wait for a British world medal at last year’s world championships in Boston, where they claimed an historic bronze, and have finished on the European podium in each of the last four editions.

They are Britain’s first-ever Grand Prix final medallists, achieving back-to-back bronzes in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 season, and carried that strong form into Milano-Cortina.

Monday’s rhythm dance was a strong outing for Team GB as the young pair of Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez scored a season’s best of 72.46 to qualify for the free dance in 16th place.