MILAN — While France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron and Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Porrier remained on the ice to show off their new Olympic medals Wednesday night, American ice dancing stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates quietly skated off with their silver medals draped around their necks.

Edged out for gold by the French duo, Bates found his way to the exit while Chock was flanked by a number of her medal-less peers rinkside, who leaned over the rink’s barrier and embraced her in a group hug as she appeared to cry.

The American pair had come to Italy in search of their first individual gold medal, and as the three-time reigning world champions, they were the heavy favorites to stand atop the podium. Having led the American team to its second straight Olympic gold medal over the weekend with two impressive programs, Chock and Bates had only the individual gold left to accomplish in a legendary career that had spanned four Olympic Games together.

They had been surprised by a second-place finish in the rhythm dance portion of the competition on Monday night but had told reporters they remained “locked in” and wouldn’t be dismayed by the result or let it change their mentality or preparations.

Competing second-to-last Wednesday, Chock, 33, and Bates, 36, mesmerized the crowd with their matador-themed program set to a flamenco version of “Paint It Black” — she as the matador and he as the bull — and their perfectly synchronized choreography and dynamic elements. They took over the lead with their season-best score of 134.67 points, giving them an overall total of 224.39, and they sat in the chairs designated for the leaders and anxiously watched on, holding hands, as Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron took the ice and performed their program, set to music from “The Whale.”

When Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s score was announced — 135.64 points for an overall total of 225.82 — Chock and Bates’ longtime dream was over in an instant.

“It’s definitely a little bittersweet because we are so, so happy with how we performed this week,” Chock told reporters through tears in the mixed zone. “We really gave it our all, and I wouldn’t change anything about how we approached each performance, what we delivered in each performance. We really gave it our best.

“And that’s what we set out to do coming to these Games. So I think we’ve got a lot to be proud of and a lot to be grateful for because we’ve had an incredible career and we’ve been so well supported by our families and our coaches by each other. And sometimes that’s just how it shakes out. This is history for us and I wouldn’t change anything.”

As surprising as the result was for Chock and Bates due to their dominant cycle ahead of the Games, it was made perhaps even more stunning because this marked the first season of Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s partnership. Not to mention, it has been a pairing marred in controversy since it was first announced last year. Fournier Beaudry previously represented Canada with Nikolaj Sorensen, who is also her romantic partner, before he was suspended from the sport for six years following allegations of sexual assault. She has publicly voiced her support for him. The suspension was overturned in June on jurisdictional grounds, but it remains pending.

Cizeron won gold at the 2022 Olympic Games with his partner Gabriella Papadakis. She has since retired and released a book earlier this year accusing him of being “controlling” and “demanding.” Cizeron has called Papadakis’ book and her allegations a “smear campaign” and has denied such claims. After winning the gold Wednesday, Cizeron said dealing with everything off-the-ice had been “quite a challenge,” but he was proud of how they overcame it.

“I think from the beginning we tried to create a bubble where we really supported each other through everything,” Cizeron said. “We’ve been through some incredibly hard moments, but I think the love that we have for each other and for the sport really brought us through, and it kind of helped us keep our heads on our shoulders and we tried to really focus on enjoying those moments together because they don’t last forever and we didn’t want that to be taken away from us.”

Fournier Beaudry received her French citizenship in November. The pair won the European Championships as well as two Grand Prix titles but came in second place to Chock and Bates in their only previous head-to-head at the Grand Prix Finals in December.

Gilles and Porrier, the two-time reigning world runner-ups, earned the bronze medal to mark their first time on the Olympic podium in three appearances. As the pair had expressed their dissatisfaction with scoring throughout the season, Gilles said they didn’t arrive in Milan with a certain result in mind.

“I think for Paul and I, our main focus for this Olympic Games was to create a moment for ourselves and to not focus on anything else,” Gilles said. “And I think we truly created the moment that we wanted to and really let the judging be the judging and that’s all we can do, but I’m really proud of what we did and how we represented ourselves.”

The Canadian pair had also indicated this might be their final competitive season but said they weren’t sure on Wednesday night.

Making their Olympic debut, Emilea Zingas, 23, and Vadym Kolesnik, 24, finished in a surprising fifth place and cemented their spot as the American pair to watch of the future.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, the third American team competing, came in 11th place.

As for Chock and Bates, when asked if they would consider making another Olympic run after coming so close to the gold, Bates was quick in his response.

“Not at the moment,” he said.

In the news conference soon after he added he wasn’t sure if this would be their final season.

“We certainly put all of our efforts to team event and individual event,” Bates said. “And so I think the aftermath of that is so immediate right now it’s really hard to say what the career plans will be.”