Figure skating-France duo Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron capture Olympic ice dance gold

MILAN, Feb 11 : France's Laurence  Fournier  Beaudry and Guillaume  Cizeron captured ice dance gold at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Wednesday, edging Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates in a remarkable story of reinvention less than a year after they teamed up.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron - who became the first ice dancer to win-back-to back Olympic titles with different partners after he also captured gold in 2022 with Gabriella Papadakis - scored 135.64 with their spellbinding free dance for 225.82 points overall.

Three-times world champions Chock and Bates, who had been undefeated all season, had to settle for silver with a total of 224.39. After chasing an Olympic medal in ice dance for more than a decade, they finally secured one on Wednesday, but it was not the colour they had dreamed of.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier captured bronze with 217.74 for their first Olympic medal. The Canadians, who have weathered numerous personal battles, broke down in tears after completing their emotional routine as they realised they had almost certainly done enough to secure a medal.

Gilles underwent surgery for ovarian cancer in the 2022-23 season after losing her mother to brain cancer in 2018.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, who train alongside their American rivals in Montreal, led by a razor-thin 0.46 of a point after Monday's rhythm dance, setting up a thrilling finale.

But the night belonged to Fournier Beaudry - a Canadian who received her French citizenship in November to pave her way to the Olympics, and Cizeron.

The duo were competing in only their fifth international competition, the latest chapter of a partnership forged less than a year ago after a suggestion from Cizeron to his longtime friend.

Their free dance — a