Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson brought spice to the ice as their 90s routine made its Olympic debut in the figure skating team event.
The pair joked they want more comments from members of the Spice Girls after Mel B showed her support on Instagram ahead of the Games – and there was plenty to like about their first outing in Milan.
Their Wannabe routine ranked third in the rhythm dance section of the team competition thanks to a season’s best score of 86.85, a strong statement of intent ahead of their main event next week.
"We love Mel B, she's great, but we want the other four to comment too, where's Victoria? Get into the comments section girls, we'll teach you all to skate whenever you want," said Fear, a Team GB flag bearer at Friday night's opening ceremony at the San Siro.
"Everyone loves the Spice Girls and you could feel the energy from the crowd, hopefully they like the way we've structured our music too.
"I'm so proud of us for doing exactly what we needed to do when the pressure was on. There was so much happening out there, but we just had fun.
"We skated how we wanted to and we're in a good position, though we'd like to be higher.
"I think we're in a great place and it just cements how we are feeling."
Fear and Gibson’s efforts helped Team GB into eighth place overnight, after Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby teamed up in the pairs before Kristen Spours competed in the women’s singles.
Vaipan-Law and Digby finished ninth after suffering a fall while Spours finished 10th.
All three made their Olympic debuts, and Spours was keen to hold onto a sporting highlight in any athlete’s career.
“I can finally call myself an Olympian, it's such a super cool moment for me,” she said.
“I never really believed I'd make it until I stepped out on the ice. Even yesterday I was just stressing that I'd injure my back or something.
"I feel like I can take a breath for the first time in a long time. I spent six months off the ice, I semi-retired but the Olympics gave me the licence for one last try.”
Edward Appleby will complete Team GB’s qualification effort on Saturday evening, when he competes in the men’s singles from 7.45pm. The top five nations will progress to the final.
Sportsbeat 2026