Lilah Fear

Lilah Fear (born 11 June 1999) is an American-born English-Canadian ice dancer who currently represents Great Britain. With her skating partner, Lewis Gibson, she is the 2019 Skate Canada bronze medalist, the 2016 CS Lombardia Trophy silver medalist, the 2019 CS Autumn Classic silver medalist, the 2018 Bavarian Open champion, and a three-time British national champion (2017, 2019, 2020).

Lilah Fear
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson at the 2018 Skate America
Personal information
Country represented Great Britain
Born (1999-06-11) 11 June 1999
Greenwich, United States
Home townLondon, England
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
PartnerLewis Gibson
Former partnerJacob Payne
CoachRomain Haguenauer, Patrice Lauzon, Marie-France Dubreuil
Former coachKaren Quinn
ChoreographerRomain Haguenauer, Samuel Chouinard,
G. Cournoyer
Former choreographerPhillip Poole
Skating clubAlexandra Palace London
Training locationsMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Former training locationsSlough, England
Began skating2004
ISU personal best scores
Combined total195.35
2019 Skate Canada
Short dance76.67
2019 Skate Canada
Free dance118.68
2019 Skate Canada

Personal life

Fear was born on 11 June 1999 in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States,[1] to Canadian parents.[2] She was raised in London, England, and attended South Hampstead High School.[3][4] She has a younger sister, Sasha, who competes in junior ice dancing for Great Britain with her partner George Waddell. She also has a second sister, Georgia, who is a cross country and track athlete for Dartmouth College in the United States. Fear is a dual Canadian-British citizen.[5]

In the fall of 2018, she began studying psychology and communications at McGill University in Montreal.[2]

Career

Early career

Fear began learning to skate in 2004.[1] In the 2013–14 season, she and Jacob Payne won the novice ice dancing title at the British Championships.

In 2014–15, Fear/Payne received two Junior Grand Prix assignments and placed 15th at both. In November 2014, they were awarded the junior bronze medal at the British Championships. They were coached by Phillip Poole in Slough, England.[6]

2016–2017 season

Fear began a partnership with Lewis Gibson, coached by Karen Quinn at the Alexandra Palace Ice Rink in London, England,[3] and by Romain Haguenauer in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[7] The duo made their international debut in late July 2016 at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, finishing eleventh. Ranked second in both segments, they received the silver medal at a Challenger Series event, the Lombardia Trophy in September. They placed fifth at the International Cup of Nice and fourth at the Open d'Andorra. In December, they won the British national title, in the absence of Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland, and silver at the Santa Claus Cup in Hungary.

In January 2017, Fear/Gibson qualified to the final segment at the European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic; they ranked 19th in the short dance, 14th in the free dance, and 15th overall. They made their World Championship debut later that season, placing 22nd.

2017–2018 season

Beginning their second season together, Fear/Gibson placed sixth at the International Cup of Nice and won silver medals at the Open d'Andorra and the Ice Challenge. They competed in three Challenger events that season, placing ninth at both the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy and 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy and fourth at the 2017 CS Warsaw Cup. Competing at the British Championships, they won the silver medal, this time behind a returning Coomes/Buckland. They subsequently competed at the Santa Claus Cup again, placing fourth.

At the end of the season, they were again sent as the United Kingdom's representation to the 2018 World Championships, placing 24th.

2018–2019 season

Wanting to challenge themselves, Fear/Gibson selected for their free dance a disco medley of songs by Donna Summer and Earth, Wind and Fire. Both professed as well to be fans of the genre.[2] Gibson said, "A lot of the routines of recent times have been very slow and lyrical, but we wanted to do something fun and something that would stand out to help us make a name for ourselves."[8]

Fear/Gibson began their season with two Challenger assignments, placing fourth at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and fifth at the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy. In October 2018, the two finished fifth at the 2018 Skate America – their Grand Prix debut. A month later, they improved their placement by finishing fourth at the 2018 NHK Trophy, achieving new personal bests in the free dance and overall score, and ranking second in the free dance.

After winning their second British national title, Fear/Gibson next competed at the 2019 European Championships, placing seventh in the rhythm dance and sixth in the free, for sixth place overall. They were pleased with the result, Gibson commenting that they "came in with the goal of a top-ten finish after we came 15th two years ago. Now we’ve managed to get two spots for Great Britain next year which is really exciting."[9] At the 2019 World Championships they placed thirteenth, having made the free dance for the first time.

2019–2020 season

Fear/Gibson began the season on the Challenger series, winning the silver medal at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International after placing fifth in the rhythm dance and second in the free dance. At their second Challenger, the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, they placed sixth in the rhythm dance and third in the free, for fourth place overall. Assigned to two Grand Prix events, they began at 2019 Skate Canada International, where they placed fourth in the rhythm dance and third in the free skate, taking the bronze medal. This was the team's first Grand Prix medal, and the first for a British team since 2014. Gibson remarked: "For us, this is huge. We didn’t expect it."[10][11] Competing again at the NHK Trophy, they were fourth in the rhythm dance, earning a perfect score on the Finnstep pattern dance for the first time.[12] They were third in the free dance, remaining in fourth place overall.[13]

At the 2020 British Championships, Fear/Gibson placed first in the rhythm dance even though Fear had fallen out of the twizzles, and placed first in the free winning their third national title by 73.37 points.[14]

Programs

With Gibson
Season Short dance Free dance
2019–2020
[15]
2018–2019
[1]
2017–2018
[16]
2016–2017
[7]
  • Blues: Save My Soul
    performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
  • Swing: Diga Diga Doo
    performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

With Payne
Season Short dance Free dance
2015–2016
[17]
  • Foxtrot
  • Waltz
  • Polka
2014–2015
[6]

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Gibson
International[18]
Event 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20
Worlds22nd24th13thC
Europeans15th6th5th
GP Skate America5th
GP Skate Canada3rd
CS Autumn Classic2nd
GP NHK Trophy4th4th
CS Finlandia Trophy9th
CS Lombardia Trophy2nd9th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy4th4th
CS Ondrej Nepela5th
CS Warsaw Cup4th
Bavarian Open1st
Cup of Nice5th6th
Ice Challenge2nd
Lake Placid IDI11th
Open d'Andorra4th2nd
Santa Claus Cup2nd4th
Shanghai Trophy2nd
National[18]
British Champ.1st2nd1st1st

With Payne
International[19]
Event 2013–14 2014–15
JGP Estonia15th
JGP Germany15th
NRW Trophy10th J
Santa Claus Cup11th J
National[19]
British Champ.1st N3rd J
Levels: N = Advanced novice; J = Junior
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References
  1. "Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018.
  2. "Getting to know Great Britain's Fear and Gibson". Ice-Dance.com. September 20, 2018.
  3. Corbett, Charlie (15 December 2016). "Ice dance sisters are set to take on the world". Camden New Journal. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  4. Wilson, Mike (27 January 2017). "Skaters Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear head to European Championships". Daily Record (Scotland).
  5. Smith, Bev (August 29, 2017). "The Waddell Brothers: an extraordinary test". Bev Smith Writes. [Fear's] parents were Canadians who had moved to Britain. Both Sasha and Lilah had dual citizenship.
  6. "Lilah FEAR / Jacob PAYNE: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  7. "Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017.
  8. Falkingham, Katie (30 November 2018). "British Figure Skating Championships: Lewis Gibson & Lilah Fear on Olympic ambitions". BBC News.
  9. Slater, Paula (January 26, 2019). "Papadakis and Cizeron defend European title; pockets fifth consecutive gold". Golden Skate.
  10. Slater, Paula (October 26, 2019). "Hubbell and Donohue dance to lead at 2019 Skate Canada". Golden Skate.
  11. Slater, Paula (October 27, 2019). "Canada's Gilles and Poirier snag Skate Canada title". Golden Skate.
  12. Slater, Paula (November 22, 2019). "Papadakis and Cizeron grab lead in Sapporo with record score". Golden Skate.
  13. Slater, Paula (November 23, 2019). "Papadakis and Cizeron take NHK Trophy gold with record scores". Golden Skate.
  14. Bradley, Jane (December 1, 2019). "Medal haul for Scottish skaters at British championships". The Scotsman.
  15. "Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019.
  16. "Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018.
  17. "Lilah FEAR / Jacob PAYNE: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.
  18. "Competition Results: Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018.
  19. "Competition Results: Lilah FEAR / Jacob PAYNE". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017.
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