Appeal made over 'incorrect' Fear & Gibson penalty

British Ice Skating has appealed after Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson missed out on an ice dance bronze medal at the World Figure Skating Championships by being deducted two points.

Fear and Gibson were third after the rhythm dance and looked to have secured bronze in the free dance, but they were penalised for an "illegal element" by the judges.

BIS called the deduction "incorrect" and said it is formally challenging the decision with the International Skating Union.

Fear and Gibson finished fourth, 0.22 of a point behind Americans Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik in Prague.

The reason for the penalty was the height of Gibson's arms in an overhead lift during their routine.

Under the ISU's rule 704, it is illegal if the "point of contact of the lifting hand(s)/arms of the lifting partner with any part of the body of the lifted partner is sustained with fully extended arms higher than the lifting partner's head".

However, the rule allows one arm to be fully extended above the head, provided it is the supporting arm.

BIS said on Tuesday that the ISU had confirmed they had received the protest submission.

"We believe this deduction was applied incorrectly and does not accurately reflect the performance delivered on the ice," read a BIS statement., external

"As an organisation, British Ice Skating stands for fairness, clarity, and transparency in sport. In this instance, we do not believe those principles have been upheld.

"All athletes deserve to be judged with consistency, integrity, and transparency at the highest level of competition.

"We are formally challenging this decision and will be raising our concerns with the International Skating Union."

Olympic champions Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France won gold with 230.81 points to become only the fourth pair to win Olympic, world and European titles in the same season.

They finished 19.29 points ahead of the field, the biggest winning margin in World Championship history.

Canada's Olympic bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won silver, ahead of Zingas and Kolesnik, who finished on 209.20 points, with Fear and Gibson ending on 208.98.

Fear and Gibson, who won bronze at last year's World Championships, missed out on a medal at the Olympics last month because of a mistake in their free dance routine.

Earlier, American star Ilia Malinin won a third successive men's World Championships gold.

He missed out on an Olympic medal last month after falling twice in the free skate.