Close gold medal battle for Scottish ice dancer at European Championships

The competition is taking place in Kaunas, Lithuania

Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson and his partner Lilah Fear are in silver medal position – just one point behind their Italian rivals – after the rhythm dance at the European Figure Skating Championships.

The six-time British champions, who scooped silver in last year’s competition and on Friday scored a seasons’ best of 85.20, said the close finish behind Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri at the competition in Kaunas, Lithuania, would spur them on in Saturday’s free dance.

"It is always a lot of fun when it’s close,” said Ms Fear. The pair beat Ms Guignard and Mr Fabbri by just over half a point in the NHK Trophy Grand Prix in Japan in November – also after coming a close second in the rhythm dance.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson perform during the Ice Dance rhythm dance event of the ISU European Figure Skating Championship in Kaunas, Lithuania.

She added: "We’re elated after our performance and we’re really excited to be in another European Championships.”

Mr Gibson, from Prestwick, said the couple are looking forward to the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada, in March. The pair have trained in Montreal for the majority of their elite career, at the Ice Academy of Montreal, a hub for international ice dancers.

"It is going to be fun,” he said. “We know the building [the Bell Centre] so well, we’ve been there for concerts so many times.”

Ms Fear added: “It will be great for us to have so many people we know here, from school or work, to be able to see us skate.”

British national silver ice dance medallists, Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez, qualified for the free dance in 19th place, however Layla Karnes and Liam Carr, also of Great Britain, did not.

In the pairs event, Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby from Dundee achieved a top ten finish, coming ninth with a score of 159.01.

The event was won by Italy’s Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise, who leapt from third place, while overnight leaders Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia slipped to second to claim the silver medal in their debut as a team and the first European Championship medal for their country in the Pairs event.

The other British pairs team, Lydia Smart and Harry Mattick, from Swindon, finished 15th.

In the women’s competition, Nina Povey is lying in 17th, having comfortably qualified for the free skate with a clean performance. Meanwhile, Lithuanian national champion Aleksandra Golovkina, who trains in Dundee, is currently in 15th place in a competition on home soil. Loena Hendrickx of Belgium is on track for her first European title by winning the Women’s Short Program with almost five points to spare. Her teammate Nina Pinzarrone came second, followed closely by 2023 ISU European Champion Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia.

In the men’s competition, Great Britain’s Edward Appleby, from Romford, just missed out on qualifying for the free skate by one place, in his first season on the senior circuit. Last year’s gold medallist, Adam Siao Him Fa from France is leading the competition going into the free skate, which continues later on Friday.