TEAM GB star Lilah Fear has been left devastated after one mistake cost her and partner Lewis Gibson an Olympic medal.
The figure skaters had a shot at winning ‘s first medal of the .
Lilah Fear choked back tears after a mistake cost her an Olympic medal
Fear and Lewis Gibson were in the running for bronze before the free danceCredit: Alamy
Fear’s error led judges to give a negative scoreCredit: EPA
Team GB’s wait for a medal at the Olympics continuesCredit: EPA
But an uncharacteristic mistake in an otherwise flawless routine on the ice meant they dropped down the standings into seventh spot.
Fear, 26, was as shocked as she was disappointed after their dance came to an end.
She said: “I can’t believe it happened. I’m replaying it in my head and it’s just such a shame. I don’t really have the words yet. It will take me some time to process.
“I can’t believe I just did that. I feel so bad, I’m devastated. I’m in shock.
“It’s such a shame because I know what we’re capable of. I just feel so bad.”
The pair were bidding to become the first ice skaters to win an Olympic medal for Team GB since Dame and Sir won bronze at the Lillehammer Games in 1994.
They were fourth after the first section of the ice dance section, performing well in the rhythm dance.
Then came the free dance with the duo hoping to impress the judges with their Scottish theme, choreographing a routine to iconic songs such as Auld Lang Syne and The Proclaimers hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).
But there hopes were dashed not long into the routine as Fear wobbled while performing a rotation – judges gave a negative score and ambitions of a medal were over.
Fear reflected: “Just a really costly technical mistake, which was tough very early in the programme because I knew that we kinda lost bronze at that point.
“But I also really wanted to not let the Olympic experience just disappear because of that.
“So it’s this battle of taking it in and doing my best the rest of the way while also knowing what I’d just done.
“It’s not what we’ve trained, and it’s really, it was costly and devastating.”
Gibson added: “When you don’t perform the way you want to, on any day, it’s tough to take but at the Olympic Games, it’s even harder,” Gibson said.
“I think we’ll look back at this one day and 100% learn from it. We do that at every single event that we go to and compete in. We’ll just move forward.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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