FIGURE skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are hanging up their skates after 50 years – and already have successors in mind.
The Team GB legends won Olympic gold in 1984 and a bronze a decade later in Norway.
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Great Britain is still waiting for another global figure skating medal over 30 years on.
Torvill and Dean are currently embarking on a farewell tour as they prepare to leave the ice behind.
And the pair believe Lilah Fear, 25, and Lewis Gibson, 30, can become the next Team GB skating superstars.
Dean told the BBC: “We’re retiring this year, so it would be nice to just hand that on to them.”
Torvill added: “[They] have taken ice dancing in Great Britain to another level”.
Fear and Gibson are three-time European medallists.
And the talented pair have come fourth at the past two World Championships.
Earlier this season, they claimed Britain’s first ever medal at the Grand Prix final.
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And ahead of this month’s World Championships in Boston, the pair are being tipped to eventually become household names.
Gibson got into figure skating after watching Torvill and Dean on reality TV show Dancing On Ice in 2006.
The duo have worked with the iconic pairing on their routines over recent years.
Dean explained: “We sort of added a few little moves here and there.
“But I think what struck us right at the beginning was how well matched they were as a team, in stature and personality and ability.”
Fear and Gibson have next year’s Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in their sights.
Speaking about comparisons to Torvill and Dean, Lilah told Sky: “It’s a huge honour I think to be even in that sentence.
“It’s crazy for us and especially given Lewis’ start to the entire sport was watching Torvill and Dean on Dancing on Ice!
“It’s amazing for you to be in that position and then for me to be skating with Lewis and just the legacy they’ve had in Great Britain and in ice dance.
“It’s lasting to this day and I think that it is extremely kind to be in that sentence and it’s something that we don’t take lightly.”
Fear and Gibson in action at the World Championships on Friday in the rhythm dance.
They will also compete on Saturday in the free dance.
