More than four decades have come and gone since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean enamoured the world with their epochal Boléro routine at the 1984 Winter Olympics, collecting a slew of perfect 6.0s from the judges and a permanent place in British sporting lore. Their names remain shorthand for excellence in figure skating – especially in the UK, where the sport has long since faded from the spotlight.
This week in Boston, however, another British ice dance duo are quietly building on a legacy of their own. When Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson take the TD Garden ice for the rhythm dance on Friday afternoon, they will do so as genuine medal contenders. After finishing fourth at the last two world championships, the pair arrive in Massachusetts in form: winners of both their Grand Prix assignments, bronze medallists at the Grand Prix final, and holders of seven national titles – the same number Torvill and Dean hauled in during their glittering career.
Fear and Gibson are the highest-profile British ice dancers in a generation and, while the comparisons with their predecessors are inevitable, they have long since carved out a style and trajectory that is unmistakably their own.
“It’s a huge honour, I think, to be even in that sentence,” Fear told Sky Sports last month. “It’s crazy for us – especially given Lewis’s start to the sport was watching Torvill and Dean on Dancing on Ice. Just the legacy they’ve had in Great Britain and in ice dance, it’s lasting to this day. It’s extremely kind to be in that sentence and it’s something that we don’t take lightly.”
The comparison is not lost on Gibson either. “The impact that they had on the sport and in British history, just getting people engaged with figure skating and ice skating back then – we really want that for the UK again,” he said. “And if we can make that happen, that is a success in itself.”
That connection could grow stronger if they reach the podium in Boston – something no British team has done at a world championships or an Olympics since Torvill and Dean returned to win bronze at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. For Fear and Gibson, who train at the Ice Academy of Montreal alongside many of their top rivals, the final step is consistency. Their bronze medal at January’s European championships marked their third straight podium finish at the event – but also came with a tinge of disappointment. They now expect, and demand, more.
Schedule
All times EST.
Wed 26 Mar
• Women's Short, 12.05pm (Peacock)
• Women's Short, 3pm (USA Network)
• Remembrance Ceremony, 6.15pm (Peacock)
• Pairs' Short, 6.45pm (Peacock)
Thu 27 Mar
• Men's Short, 11.05am (Peacock)
• Men's Short, 3pm (USA Network)
• Pairs' Free, 6.15pm (Peacock)
• Pairs' Free, 8pm (USA Network)
Fri 28 Mar
• Rhythm Dance, 11.15am (Peacock)
• Rhythm Dance, 3pm (USA Network)
• Women's Free, 6pm (Peacock)
• Women's Free, 8pm (NBC/Peacock)
Sat 29 Mar
• Free Dance, 1.30pm (Peacock)
• Free Dance, 3pm (USA Network)
• Men's Free, 6pm (Peacock)
• Men's Free, 8pm (NBC/Peacock)
Sun 30 Mar
• Exhibition Gala, 2pm (Peacock)
How to watch outside the US
United Kingdom
As of last year, Premier Sports holds the broadcasting rights for the World Figure Skating Championships in the UK, with coverage extending until 2028. To watch the championships, you'll need a subscription to Premier Sports, which offers live coverage of the events. You can subscribe through their official website or via certain TV providers that include Premier Sports in their packages.
Australia
SBS provides live and free coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships in Australia through SBS On Demand.
Their free dance to a string of Beyoncé hits has been one of the biggest crowd-pleasers on this circuit this season and will be given an industrial-grade tableau on Saturday, when the 17,850-seat arena is expected to be at near capacity with the biggest turnout of the week.
Standing in their way are the three teams who shared last year’s world podium and have dominated the discipline for the past two seasons.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, partners on the ice from 2011 and married since last year, are seeking to become the first team in 28 years to win three consecutive world titles. The six-time US champions first won medals at the world championships in 2016 and their innovative, genre-bending programmes this season – taking in everything from Jive Bunny to the Bee Gees to Miles Davis – have once again made them favourites.
But Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, silver medallists in Montreal a year ago, have shown they are more than capable of toppling them. The Canadians won the free dance at last year’s worlds and edged out Chock and Bates at Four Continents in February by just half a point. A mistake in the Grand Prix final cost them a higher placement, but their momentum appears to be returning at just the right time.
Italy’s Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri, meanwhile, are the most experienced pair in the 36-team field, making their 13th world championship appearance. The reigning European champions and Grand Prix final runners-up are seeking their third straight world medal as they build toward a home Olympics in Milan in 11 months.
All three teams – Chock and Bates, Gilles and Poirier, and Guignard and Fabbri – also competed at the 2016 worlds in Boston, when Chock and Bates won bronze. Now, they return as the clear frontrunners but, in a discipline known for infinitesimal margins, the door remains open.
Behind them, a new generation is pressing upward. Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished just outside the medals at the Grand Prix final and Four Continents. From the US, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko are hoping to make an impact on home ice. France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, Finland’s Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis, and Spain’s Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck all arrive in strong form after the European season.
For now, though, all eyes will be on the battle at the top. And on whether Fear and Gibson can finally deliver the result that has been just out of reach. “It’s exciting, and it’s pressure,” Fear said. “But this is what we’ve worked for.”
