Canada's Gilles and Poirier miss podium, France's Papadakis and Cizeron take gold

Canada's pair of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier missed out on medals in ice dancing at Beijing 2022, finishing the free dance portion of the competition with a total score of 204.78.

Finishing seventh, the placement is an improvement on their eighth-place finish four years ago in Pyeongchang.

The duo were sixth after the rhythm with a score of 83.25.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France broke their own ice dance world record Monday, winning the Olympic gold medal that narrowly eluded them four years ago in Pyeongchang.

WATCH | France's Papadakis and Cizeron skate to gold in Beijing:

The last figure skaters on the ice for the free dance, Papadakis and Cizeron scored 136.15 points for their performance to "Elegie" by the early 20th century French composer Gabriel Faure. That gave them 226.98 points, beating their previous mark of 226.61 set at the 2019 NHK Trophy in Japan, and easily enough to hold off Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov.

Another set of Americans, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, finished just off the podium in fourth place.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry, of Greenfield Park, Que., and Nikolaj Soerensen, of Montreal, received a score of 113.81 to bump their total to 192.35, putting them in ninth place to close out their first Games. The duo were in eighth headed into the free dance after scoring 78.54 in the rhythm dance.

Marjorie Lajoie, of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha, of St-Hubert, Que., scored 108.43 to finish with a combined score of 181.02, placing 13th in their Olympic debut. The tandem had been in 13th place after receiving a score of 72.59 in the rhythm dance.

WATCH | Canada's Gilles and Poirier place 7th in free dance:

Earlier in the Games, in the team event, Gilles and Poirier finished fourth in the rhythm dance with a score of 82.72 and third in the free dance with a score of 124.39, behind the ROC and U.S.

Canada finished fourth but the medal ceremony has been delayed over a situation involving 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, with the potential for Canada to win bronze very much in play.

Poirier, of Unionville, Ont., and Gilles, of Toronto, made their Olympic debut together at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games where they finished eighth in the ice dance. Poirier made his actual Olympic debut at the Vancouver Games in 2010 with Vanessa Crone, where the two finished fourteenth in the event.

The 30-year-olds came into these Games having won a bronze medal at the 2021 world championships. Before the current Grand Prix season was cut short due to COVID-19, Gilles and Poirier won the Skate Canada International and placed second at the Internationaux De France.