OLYMPICS: Figure skating-Tearful Chock and Bates say they felt like they skated a winning performance

MILAN – American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates believed they had delivered a gold-medal performance at the Olympics on Wednesday, but had to settle for silver behind France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.

Chock and Bates entered the decisive free dance in a near tie for the lead, earning loud applause at the Milano Ice Skating Arena with their matador-and-bull themed routine. Their excitement turned to tears when the final scores placed them second.

“Life, sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way,” Bates told reporters. “And that’s life, and that’s sport. It’s a subjective, judged sport. But one fact that is indisputable is that we delivered our best.”

Bates said they felt their performance was strong enough to win.

“We felt like we skated a winning performance, and that’s what we came here to do,” he said.

The duo had promised to win Olympic ice dance gold after missing the podium at the Beijing Games four years ago, but their goal remained just out of reach.

“We’re really proud of how we’ve handled ourselves and what we’ve accomplished here,” Chock said, thanking their coaches and families. She added that they hope their performance inspires younger skaters “to just be the best they can be, be creative, and love what they do.”

Chock and Bates finished with 224.39 points. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron claimed gold with 225.82 points, while Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earned bronze with 217.74.

The silver medal adds to the pair’s two team gold medals, including one they helped secure for the U.S. at the Milano Cortina Games.

It remains unclear whether Chock and Bates, partners for 15 years and married, will retire or aim for another Olympic cycle. When asked if the result motivated him to continue chasing gold, Bates declined to speculate.

“Not at the moment,” he said.

-Reporting by Rory Carroll in Milan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman/Reuters