French Pair Wins Olympic Gold, Sparking Judging Controversy

Beaudry and Cizeron's surprise victory over American favorites Chock and Bates raises questions about scoring impartiality.

Published on Feb. 12, 2026

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At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, the French ice dancing pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron edged out the favored American couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates to win the gold medal. However, the narrow margin of victory and the high scores given by a French judge have sparked outrage and calls for an investigation into the judging process.

Why it matters

This controversy echoes a previous judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, where a French judge was found to have been pressured to vote for the Russian pair over the Canadians. The incident led to major reforms in figure skating scoring to try to prevent such biased judging, but this latest case suggests more work may be needed to ensure impartiality in the sport.

The details

Beaudry and Cizeron delivered a strong free dance performance, earning 225.82 points overall, just enough to edge out Chock and Bates who scored 224.39 points. However, the French judge awarded Beaudry and Cizeron nearly 8 points more than Chock and Bates in the free dance, a discrepancy that fueled immediate scrutiny and calls for an investigation into the judging.

  • The 2026 Winter Olympics were held in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
  • The ice dancing competition took place on February 12, 2026.

The players

Laurence Fournier Beaudry

A French ice dancer who, along with her partner Guillaume Cizeron, won the gold medal in the ice dancing competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Guillaume Cizeron

A French ice dancer who, along with his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry, won the gold medal in the ice dancing competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Madison Chock

An American ice dancer who, along with her partner Evan Bates, won the silver medal in the ice dancing competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Evan Bates

An American ice dancer who, along with his partner Madison Chock, won the silver medal in the ice dancing competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Marie-Reine Le Gougne

A French figure skating judge who was at the center of a judging controversy at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

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What they’re saying

“We're still in shock. Looking back a year ago, when we started dreaming this, it's pretty incredible.”

— Guillaume Cizeron (Newsweek)

“I feel like in life, sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn't go your way, and that's life in sports. It's a subjective sport. It is a judged sport. But I think one fact that is indisputable is that we delivered our best. We skated our best.”

— Evan Bates (Newsweek)

What’s next

The International Skating Union (ISU) has indicated that it will review the judging scores and consider whether a formal investigation is warranted.

The takeaway

This latest judging controversy in figure skating highlights the ongoing challenges of ensuring impartiality and transparency in the sport's scoring system, even after major reforms were implemented following the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics scandal. It raises questions about whether more changes are needed to restore public trust in the fairness of Olympic figure skating competitions.