Given that Lewis Gibson is desperate to get more eyes on his sport, and especially more Scottish eyes, he’s going about it the right way.
Gibson is one half of GB’s best ice dance pair, alongside Lilah Fear, and the coming season is going to ensure few observers have any doubt as to where Gibson’s roots lie.
The music the pair has chosen for their free dance routine could not be more Scottish; a medley of ‘The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond’, The Proclaimers classic, ’I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), before finishing with ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Their selection will make for an extraordinary, and eye-catching routine, and that’s exactly what Gibson and Fear were aiming for when the idea of using these songs entered their heads.
“We've considered these Scottish songs in the past, but this season, we really came back to it,” says Prestwick native Gibson, on a brief visit back to the UK from his home in Montreal.
“It's so patriotic so it's amazing for me to be skating to these songs. And Lilah has some Scottish ancestry, so it's perfect for her too.
“I would just love for more people to get involved in the sport, even if it's just watching it, and we’d love if our Scottish programme attracted more people to watch us. Hopefully people will be interested to see how we manage to do Highland Dancing on the ice.”
Gibson doesn’t want to just garner attention for their song choices this coming season, though, with he and Fear desperate to continue proving they are one of the very best ice dance pairs on the planet.
Over the past few years, the duo have established themselves as one of the top pairs in the world but it’s been in 2025 that they’ve really made history.
Bronze medals at the Grand Prix Finals and the European Championships, as well as a seventh British title were high points but the highlight was their bronze medal at the World Championships, with Gibson and Fear becoming GB’s first ice dance World medallists since the legendary pair of Torvill and Dean 41 years previously.
For Gibson, the medal was of huge significance, particularly given him and Fear had finished in fourth place at the World Championships twice in previous seasons.
And so while making the podium was always their aim, having their dream turn into reality was, admits Gibson, quite a shock to the system.
“2025 has been a crazy year and it was so overwhelming, but in the best way possible,” he says.
“Our Worlds medal was such a huge achievement, personally, because that's the type of thing you dream about. So for it to actually come true was incredible and for our names to then be mentioned alongside Torvill and Dean, who were the last British pair to win a Worlds medal, is always such an honour.
“And from a British perspective, hopefully it can help to inspire the next generation of figure skaters to give the sport a try.”
The comparisons between Gibson and Fear and Torvill and Dean are becoming a regular occurrence, in the main due to the fact that the Scot, along with Canadian-born Fear, are the first British pair who look capable of emulating the iconic duo’s success from the 1980s.
Gibson, who took up the sport after watching Torvill and Dean on television in the mid-2000s, will never tire of being mentioned alongside Britain’s best ice dancers of all-time and he admits it's somewhat surreal to think that himself and Fear have the potential to become Britain's first Olympic ice dance medallists since their compatriots won gold in 1984 and bronze in 1994.
The 2026 Winter Olympics, which are now just four months away, will take place in Milan and Cortina in Italy, with this being Gibson and Fear’s second Olympic appearance after they made their Olympic debut in Beijing in 2022.
This time around, though, things feel very different for the Scot and his partner, with the duo heading to this Olympics with considerably more expectation upon their shoulders.
It’s a position that Gibson is embracing, though.
“Olympic season always feels different because everyone says it's different,” he says.
“Leading into the 2022 Olympics, we didn't know what to expect but this time, we’re already Olympians and we know what's coming in terms of of increased media attention. But that’s fun.
“Going to the Olympics aiming for a medal is a very different feeling from going to the Olympics just to become an Olympian. So I do feel the pressure, but that's positive because, as a pair, we've worked so hard over the years to get ourselves into this position.
“So we're embracing any pressure that comes over the next few months.”
Olympic success would be just reward for Gibson and Fear, who have already established themselves as the world’s most exciting and distinct ice dance pairing due to their somewhat unusual, and untraditional, song choices.
Alongside their Scottish-themed music, they have chosen a medley of Spice Girls songs to perform their short dance to, with the iconic ‘Wannabe’ featuring.
This follows on from previous music choice including a Beyonce medley, Lady Gaga songs and a Lion King medley, with such unusual choices ensuring they have become firm fan favourites.
For Gibson, it’s vital to maintain this element of the pair’s personality in their routines while, at the same time, pushing the boundaries in their skating.
“As soon as we heard that the theme for the rhythm dance this year is 90s music, we were like, we have to choose the Spice Girls,” says Gibson.
“What I love about our choices we make is it attracts people who might never normally watch skating. I'm so happy that we stand out in the sport. It's so cool that we've made a name for ourselves and have such a clear identity within such a historic, traditional sport and we never want to lose that.”
Gibson and Fear are preparing to begin their season, with the Grand Prix circuit kicking-off later this month before, after the turn of the year, the duo will head into the European Championships, which will be held in Sheffield.
And then, from there, it’ll be full steam ahead to the Olympics where, if they can get their hands on a medal, it’ll be their latest step towards emulating their heroes of Torvill and Dean.
ISU European Figure Skating Championships take place in Sheffield in January 2026. Visit www.Europeans2026.com for more details.
