Team GB's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson miss out on medal as France claim ice dance figure skating gold at Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games
By Ben Southby
Updated 11/02/2026 at 22:48 GMT
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French pair Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry were labelled the "best ice dance team the world has ever seen" after they scooped the gold medal in the ice dance at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Wednesday, as Team GB missed out. Britain's wait for a medal at this Winter Games goes on after Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson finished seventh.
Tears as France crowned ice dance champions
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson could not deliver Team GB's first medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, as France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron claimed a brilliant gold in the mixed ice dance.
The British pair were in a promising position to end Britain's wait for a medal after the rhythm dance on Monday, where they produced a fourth-best score of 85.47.
But an early technical mistake from Fear in the free dance on Wednesday night damaged the pair's chance of breaking into the top three.
Ultimately, their free dance score of 118.85 meant that they fell short and finished seventh with an overall score of 204.32.
There were emotional scenes after Canadian pair Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier secured a podium spot with an effort worth 131.56, taking their overall total to 217.74, where they eventually claimed a bronze medal.
Their performance was followed by a mesmerising routine from USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who posted a season-best score of 134.67 to surge to the top of the standings, with only Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron left to skate.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
In what was described as a "spellbinding" performance by TNT Sports commentator Simon Reed, France pipped the USA duo to gold with a total score of 225.82 - helped by 135.64 points in the free dance.
After watching the action unfold, TNT Sports pundit Mark Hanretty boldly claimed that the French duo are "truly the best ice dance team the world has ever seen".
He continued: "Those top three teams [France, USA and Canada] have been pitted against each other all season.
"There’s been flip-flopping in results. Madison and Evan [USA] won the Grand Prix final, Laurence and Guillaume [France] have obviously taken gold here.
"They did make some little wobbles, ultimately - it’s hard in a subjective sport like this to make definitives - but they are indisputably the strongest skaters in the world."
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Cizeron successfully defended the Olympic title he won with former partner Gabriella Papadakis at the 2022 Beijing Games, while victory earned Fournier Beaudry her first Olympic medal.
James Hernandez and Phebe Bekker were also in action for Team GB and scored 106.99 in the free dance, which earned them a 17th-place overall finish with 179.45 points.
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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