Team GB's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson qualify fourth for free dance to maintain medal hopes, Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez also through
Updated 09/02/2026 at 22:49 GMT
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The figure skating free dance at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will feature two pairs of Brits after Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, and Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez qualified from the rhythm dance. Fear and Gibson posted a score of 85.47 while Bekker and Hernandez scored 72.46. The medal positions will be decided in the free dance on Wednesday, February 11.
We wanted to 'attack and enjoy' say 'confident' Fear and Gibson
Video credit: TNT Sports
Team GB figure skaters Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson maintained their 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics medal hopes as they qualified in fourth place for the free dance.
Dancing to a medley of Spice Girls hits, Fear and Gibson scored 85.47 in the rhythm dance, just behind Canada in third on 86.18.
Favourites France and USA topped the leaderboard with scores of 90.18 and 89.72 respectively.
With the top 20 teams qualifying, fellow Brits Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez also progressed with a score of 72.46 placing them 16th on their Olympic debut.
The Team GB pairs are bidding to become Britain’s first Olympic figure skating medallists since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994.
The medal positions will be decided in the free dance on Wednesday, February 11.
"I just wanted to nail it and do us proud and do exactly what we wanted and I felt like we did," Fear told TNT Sports.
"From the moment I stuck my toe pick in the first position I was like, ‘We mean business, let’s go’ and I just wanted to attack and enjoy and entertain."
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'Smiles all round' after Fear and Gibson 'couldn't have given it more'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Gibson added: "We had the team event and did a great program in that and then to do something that felt better again was kind of crazy, so I was really excited about that and the confidence that gives me for Wednesday as well."
With the scores combined from the rhythm dance and free dance to decide the final positions, Gibson and Fear look likely to be competing for bronze with Canada.
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and French duo Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, have a healthy lead in the top two places.
But there could yet be twists and turns on Wednesday and Fear will be hoping for more support in the crowd.
"I saw my sisters, my grandma and a family friend I have known since I was two," she said after the rhythm dance.
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Becoming Olympians 'dream come true' for Bekker and Hernandez
Video credit: TNT Sports
"He is basically family and I didn’t know he was going to be here. So to see them it was just like they were on the ice with us and it’s the kind of thing you visualise when you dream of the Olympics.
"You look into the crowd and you see your family members, and I actually did so I was so happy."
While Fear and Gibson have their sights on a medal, Bekker and Hernandez said it was a "dream" to appear at their first Olympics.
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"We skated with our heart on our sleeves," Hernandez told TNT Sports.
"That program especially is just so fun to skate and to skate in front of an audience that enjoyed it as much as we did. It felt like a dream at the end becoming Olympians."
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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