Mar 17, 2022

“A magical way to end an Olympic season” - GB contingent set for World Figure Skating Championships

Natasha McKay, Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are set to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships next week, their first competition since they made their Olympic debuts at Beijing 2022.

Graham Newberry, who was crowned British Champion in December, will skate at his first World Championships since 2017 in the men's singles category. Zoe Jones and Chris Boyadji will skate in the Pairs and Sasha Fear and George Waddell will take a second place alongside Fear and Gibson in the Ice Dance for Great Britain.

Fear and Gibson came 10th in the Ice Dance at the Winter Olympic Games. Photo credit: Team GB/David Pearce

Once month on from the Winter Olympic Games, Fear and Gibson are looking forward to the opportunity to represent Great Britain once again on the world stage. The Ice Dance duo who came 10th in Beijing described the competition as a “magical way to finish an Olympic season”.

22-year-old Fear said: “We have been training hard since the Games, continuing to strive for more growth and evolution in our programmes and cannot wait to showcase these at the final competition of the season. As always, we are incredibly proud to have another opportunity to represent Great Britain on the world stage.

Prestwick born Gibson added: “I’m also really looking forward to competing in front of a crowd.”

They came 5th at the recent European Championships in Tallinn and 7th at the 2021 World Championships.

Natasha McKay, who qualified for the Winter Olympics thanks to a 23rd place at the 2021 World Championships, is excited to be back competing on the world stage and hoping to build on her recent experience in China.

Natasha McKay made her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022.Photo credit: Team GB/Sam Mellish

The Dundee based skater said: “I feel the experience I gained at the Olympic Games will, of course, help me moving forward. Competing at any world class event, never mind the Olympic Games which are the ultimate, is a good experience and always a learning curve. I have no doubt this will help me when stepping back onto the world stage.”

She added: “Expectations at the World Championships is to firstly qualify for the free skate which requires a good performance when competing against the world’s best skaters. Having achieved this at my last two World Championships, I am hoping to do the same and hopefully move up the rankings a few places this year. Ultimately my goal is to go and put down two strong performances and then see how I stand after that.”

Two-time British Champion Graham Newberry will skate in the men’s singles five years on from his last World Championship performance. He came 31st in the 2017 edition in Helsinki. More recently he narrowly missed out on a place in the free skate at the European Championships in January, finishing 26th.

Chris Boyadji and Zoe Jones are back at a major event after having to sadly withdraw from the European Championships due to a positive covid-19 test. They skate as a Pair at their fifth World Championships.

Great Britain has a second Ice Dance place that will be taken by Sasha Fear, sister of fellow GB team member Lilah, and George Waddell. The pair made their international senior Ice Dance debut in 2020 and came 15th at the European Figure Skating Championships in January.