Day 3 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games proved to be a major moment for British Ice Skating, with athletes from Buckinghamshire playing a key role in a day packed with energy, speed and standout performances.
The Ice Dance Rhythm Dance lit up the arena as Fear and Gibson brought the noise and kept themselves firmly in the medal fight. Earlier in the session, James Hernandez, who hails from Amersham, Buckinghamshire, alongside partner Phebe Bekker, delivered an assured and confident Olympic debut. Skating with control and composure from the opening moments, Bekker and Hernandez produced clean elements, strong connection and a performance that looked right at home on the Olympic stage. Their season’s best score of 72.46 saw them finish 16th overall and qualify comfortably for Wednesday’s Free Dance, giving the duo a strong platform heading into the next phase of the competition. Speaking after the skate, Hernandez said: Images: British Ice Skating: www.iceskating.org.uk Elsewhere, Buckinghamshire was again represented on the Olympic stage as Ellia Smeding, from Aylesbury, delivered a superb performance in the Women’s 1000m long track speed skating. Smeding finished 11th in a time of 1:15.834, missing out on a top-10 Olympic finish by just 0.004 seconds. Her time stands as Team GB’s fastest-ever women’s Olympic 1000m performance, underlining both her speed and the quality of her skate on the world stage. The race unfolded at blistering pace, with the Olympic record broken twice during the session — a clear sign of just how fast the ice was in Milano Cortina. With strong performances across both disciplines, Day 3 proved a memorable one for British Ice Skating — and a proud moment for athletes from Buckinghamshire making their mark on the Olympic stage.
“We always say, we just do our job, but it is more than a job at the end of the day. It is our lives, it is our passion, and it is a job. Our job was to get through to this free dance, and we've done that, with not just scraping by, with a really solid skate, I feel, so we are very very happy.”
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