Canadian ice dancers Gilles, Poirier question judging after falling shy of medal at Grand Prix Final

Piper Gilles shook her head as the scores popped up on the screen.

She and Paul Poirier had just delivered their cleanest free dance of the season at the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. The kind of skate that has landed the Canadian duo on the world podium for three years running.

Yet the judges saw it differently, and the marks weren't enough to bring home a medal.

"It definitely is disheartening. We can't lie, we're human," Gilles said. "We skated two successful programs, and we emotionally and physically felt so in shape and powerful in those moments, [only] to kind of be left questioning what we're doing, is it enough?"

The veteran ice dancers dropped from third after the rhythm dance to fourth following the free, finishing 0.06 points behind Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson in the season's first head-to-head competition between the world's top six teams.

In the kiss and cry, Gilles's shaking head showed her frustration, and she wasn't alone. Many fans and pundits felt the Canadians, known for their creativity and skating skills, should have finished ahead.

"You can see that the speed is just not as comparable to what Piper and Paul have," said former Canadian skater Kaetlyn Osmond of the Brits on CBC Sports' That Figure Skating Show while giving them credit for being major performers.

"It looked extremely evident the difference in their skating qualities."

After the event, Gilles posted a quote to social media about athletic truths being "diminished and manipulated by people with agendas," and tagged the International Skating Union.

Her husband, Nathan Kelly, also replied to an ISU Instagram post, saying he was disillusioned with the results. And even the Gilles's dog account chimed in, siding with