Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson tried smiling through Olympic heartbreak but you could see their pain.
There were smiles on camera and tears off stage as Team GB's ice dance stars fell short of their medal ambitions in Milan with a seventh-place finish. A difficult end to a dream worth reaching for.
Starting the decisive free dance in fourth place, Robin Cousins, who won Olympic gold in 1980, said their only path to a medal was to be flawless, but the mistakes crept in.
Instead their Highland Fling-inspired free dance saw them fall down the leaderboard to seventh.
It wasn't the miracle on ice they dreamed of, and will be a moment that needs some time to process for the world medallists.
"I can't believe it happened, I am replaying it in my head and it's just such a shame," said Fear. "I don't really have the words yet. It will take me some time to process."
With a mistake in their twizzle sequence, Olympic silverware ultimately slipped from their grasp.
France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron took gold while Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates claimed silver.
Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier produced a huge personal best to take bronze.
Gibson said: "We knew when we chose this programme that it was going to be special to us and to a lot of people and this whole season has proven that and we've just enjoyed performing it around the world."
Earlier in the competition Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez skated a season's best of 106.99 in their Romeo and Juliet inspired theme to finish 17th overall.
Bekker is now awaiting her Olympic 'prime' after leaving everything out on the ice in Milan.
"I’m good to just enjoy the moment right now," she said. "We put so much into that performance. I honestly feel exhausted but that’s good because it means that I’ve left nothing else out there.
"This is really the start of our journey and it’s so special that people can share our first Olympics with us because truly we’re ready to fight and we’re ready to come for our next Olympics.
"It will be in our prime time. That will be the time when we’re fighting for those top spots."
Sportsbeat 2026