The door to history cracked open for Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson on Saturday afternoon. For a heartstopping moment in the kiss-and-cry area, it looked like they might not step through. After Italy’s Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri delivered a solid but beatable free dance – scoring 123.42 points, nearly five below their season’s best – for an overall total of 206.46, the opportunity was there. All the British pair needed was 122.61 to secure a bronze medal, a score around three points under their own top mark for the year. It might have seemed straightforward enough. It almost wasn’t.
Skating third-to-last in the final group, Fear and Gibson performed their free dance to a string of Beyoncé hits, a fan-favourite programme that has earned ovations across the circuit. After a tight, nervy first half, the crowd inside TD Garden rewarded their strong, confident finish with roars of approval before the technical panel went to work. Several elements, including the levels on their steps and one of the lifts, came under scrutiny.
