ALLEN, Texas — Brits Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are the first non-Americans to win the Skate America ice dance title since 2008, stopping the U.S. streak at 15 consecutive victories.
Fear and Gibson, fourth at the last two world championships, led two-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates by 5.68 points after Saturday’s rhythm dance, where the Americans had a fall in their season debut.
Chock and Bates had the top free dance score Sunday, but the Brits held on to prevail by .75 of a point overall in the second-closest Skate America ice dance result since the 6.0 scoring system was replaced in 2004.
“It definitely feels great to feel like we’re on a good momentum already at the beginning of the season like this,” Gibson said on NBC Sports. “Fourth twice (at worlds), it’s hard, and it’s tough at the top, but I feel like we’ve made big improvements this summer.”
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Chock and Bates had won their previous eight competitions since the start of 2023 and were going for a record-tying fifth Skate America dance crown.
“This result won’t define our career, it won’t even define our season,” Bates said. “It’s just a start for us. We’re going to get back to work and be better next time.”
Starting in 2009, five different U.S. couples combined to win 15 Skate America dance titles in a row: Tanith White and Ben Agosto (in 2009), Meryl Davis and Charlie White (four times), Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani (two), Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (four) and Chock and Bates (four).
While Fear and Gibson competed twice this season before Skate America, Chock and Bates were competing for the first time since March’s worlds. Both couples train at the Ice Academy of Montreal.
Chock, 32, and Bates, 35, trailed going into a free dance for the first time since the December 2022 Grand Prix Final.
“It’s an opportunity for us to grow and get even stronger and build more mental fortitude,” Chock said.
Though Chock and Bates went undefeated last season, they were outscored in the free dance at both the U.S. Championships and the world championships. Their last four victories came by an average of 4.41 points, closer than their winning margins at nationals and worlds in the 2022-23 season.
This season builds to December’s Grand Prix Final, where Chock and Bates could face world silver medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada and world bronze medalists Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy.
Then come the U.S. Championships in January. Chock and Bates could tie the record of six national titles in ice dance held by 2014 Olympic gold medalists Davis and White.
At worlds in March, Chock and Bates can break their tie with Davis and White for the most titles for an American couple.
