Disappointment for Team GB ice dancers Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson after dropping out of medal contention

Team GB’s hopes for its first Olympic figure skating medal in 32 years were dashed in Milan on Wednesday night, after ice dancing duo Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear suffered costly mistakes to drop out of medal contention.

High hopes had been placed on Fear and Gibson, who have risen up the world rankings after a series of World, European and British medal places in recent years, to deliver a medal for Team GB for the first time in the discipline since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean scooped bronze at Lillehammer in 1994.

Having secured fourth place after their Spice Girls-themed rhythm dance on Monday night, the pair were just 0.71 points off the podium behind Canada’s Piper Gillies and Paul Poirier.

They needed a clean skate to overtake their nearest competitors with their free dance, a rousing Scottish-themed routine inspired by Highland dancing set to a medley of The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond, Auld Lang Syne and The Proclaimers hit (I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles.

The routine, a nod to Gibson’s Scottish heritage, has been a hit on the ice dancing circuit during the season, however, two early stumbles proved costly and the duo tumbled to an overall seventh place with a score of 118.85 – eight points adrift of their season’s best.

Following the dance, an emotional Fear said: “I can’t believe it’s happened. I am replaying it in my head and it’s just such a shame. I don’t really have the words yet. It will take me some time to process.

“I wanted to come out here and enjoy the Olympic experience and skate for me and skate for Lewis.”

The Canadians then swooped in with a huge 131.56 score for their reimagined Vincent routine to take bronze, with Piper and Poirer clearly emotional on the ice afterwards, having secured a long-awaited Olympic medal.

The fight at the top then came down to French duo Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry, and top husband and wife US team Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who went into the free dance in second place to deliver their Paso Doble-inspired routine.

Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to unseat reigning champion Cizeron, who made a surprising return to ice dance last year after splitting with long-term skating partner Gabriella Papadakis, with whom he won gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and five world titles.

Cizeron then teamed up with Fournier Beaudry, who was also left without a skating partner after her boyfriend Nikolaj Sorensen was handed a six-year ban from the sport for alleged sexual assault.

The French pair, who skated a lyrical routine to the soundtrack from The Whale, won gold with a combined score of 225.82, with Chock and Bates taking silver with 224.39.