One American ice dancing pair claimed Olympic bronze on Monday in Beijing, but in doing so bumped their teammates off the podium.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue finished third in the ice dancing competition, edging out fellow Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates for the final medal by 3.25 points.
France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron captured gold, winning both the rhythm dance and Monday’s free dance on the way to a piling up a total score of 226.98. Russia’s Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov followed behind with 220.51 points, taking home the silver.
It marked the first Olympic ice dancing medal for Hubbell and Donohue, who placed fourth overall in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. In Beijing, they finished third in both the rhythm dance (87.13) and free dance (130.89) in what they have said will be their last season competing together.
“It was just a moment, I think, for both of us to say goodbye to Olympic ice,” Hubbell said, “and thank this journey that’s created, you know, the people that we are today.”
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Chock and Bates put together a strong free dance (130.63) on Monday after a few bumps in their rhythm dance (84.14), but came up short of a medal for the third straight Olympics. The duo finished eighth overall in the 2014 Olympics and ninth overall in the 2018 Olympics.
Both Hubbell and Donohue and Chock and Bates helped USA claim a silver medal in the team event last week, though the final results of that competition are still pending the doping case of Kamila Valieva, who led Russia to a gold medal.
“To take in this new experience at the end of our career is something we’re very, very grateful for,” Donohue said.