Lewis Gibson hopes medal success will 'ignite flame' in Scottish figure skating

Scottish figure skater Lewis Gibson hopes the success he and partner Lilah Fear have enjoyed will “ignite a flame” in the sport throughout the UK.

The pair won Great Britain’s first World Championship medal since the legendary duo of Jane Torvill and Christopher Deal over 40 years ago when they finished in third place in Boston last week.

Gibson, from Prestwick in Ayrshire, now believes that success can inspire the next generation of figure skaters as he urged others to take to their local ice rink.

A score of 207.11 in the Ice Dance contest saw them take home bronze and draw comparisons with Torvill and Dean, who won gold in 1984.

The 30-year-old Scotsman also revealed that the biggest names in British ice skating had been in touch to congratulate him and 25-year-old Lilah.

Figure skating World Championships: Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear won bronze. STV News

On the medal success and experience of the World Championships, he said: “It was a dream come true; we have chased it for a few years, so to finally do it still feels surreal and we are still floating on the high of it.

“We had an intention just to have the most fun leading into this event with our training just seizing each day, and we decided to keep that going through the week itself in Boston.

“We honestly just had the best time.

“Everything was just an upside surprise, from the beautiful arena, the crowd was amazing and of course when you layer all that in with a great skate and a medal, it’s the best possible outcome.

“I hope this can ignite a flame that’s sort of continually burning, there are so many great athletes out there and I’d love for anyone to get involved in skating.

“Get along to your local rink and go skating, get a feel of what it’s like to glide across the ice and hopefully we won’t be able to get you back off of there.

“I’m sure it’s going to get people excited about the sport again.”

The pair were quick to distance themselves from any comparisons to Torvill and Dean, whose names remain synonymous with figure skating in the UK following Olympic, World Championship and European Championship golds in the 1980s and 90s.

Fear said: “We can’t comprehend that, it’s crazy, they have been such an influence to us and had this incredible influence on the nation with their performances and incredible career that has lasted the test of time.

“Even to this day, they are just retiring this year and it just shows the durability they have, so to be a part of that in any small way is so meaningful and just a great honour.”

Gibson continued: “They have supported us so much throughout our career, and after we won the medal, they reached out to us. It was so great to hear from them, and their continued support is just amazing.”