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In a sport where margins are often measured in fractions of a point, the ice dance final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games has ignited a firestorm of robbery claims from the American skating community.
Three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates delivered a breathtaking, nearly flawless performance to "Paint It Black," but they were forced to settle for silver after being edged out by the newly formed French duo Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
The controversy centers on a staggering scoring anomaly: despite a visible bobble in the French team’s twizzle sequence, the French judge awarded his compatriots a score nearly eight points higher than the Americans in the free dance. With five of the nine judges actually favoring Chock and Bates, fans and experts alike are questioning whether the gold was decided by technical merit or strategic nationalistic judging.
Here’s what to know about the controversy.
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What is the ice dancing controversy?
The 2026 ice dancing controversy centers on the individual gold medal match held on Wednesday, February 11, where American favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates lost to the French pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron in a result many U.S. fans and experts are calling "sabotage."
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 11, 2026While the French team won by a razor-thin margin of 1.43 points, the details of the scorecards have sparked accusations of nationalistic judging. In the free dance, the French judge's scoring was a massive statistical outlier. If that single score had been more aligned with the rest of the panel, Chock and Bates would likely have secured the gold.
The two had the following to say after.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates won silver in the ice dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Two-time gold medalists in the team event, this is the first Olympic ice dance medal in their fourth appearance together. https://t.co/vPtXsqYFuo pic.twitter.com/4bh2j8t0Fi
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 12, 2026MORE: Updated Team USA medal count
Did judges sabotage Madison Chock and Evan Bates?
There is no proof that judges sabotaged Chock and Bates, but that hasn’t stopped American fans from speculating.
The silver medal finish on Wednesday night was decided by just 1.43 points, and the scorecard from the French judge in the free dance has become the primary target of frustration.
While five of the nine judges placed the Americans first in the free dance, the French judge’s marks were a massive outlier -- favoring his own country’s skaters by nearly eight points. This single score effectively erased the slim lead Chock and Bates had built with the other judges, sparking a wave of online outrage and comparisons to the old guard of nationalistic judging in figure skating.
French skater Guillaume Cizeron had a visible bobble during his twizzle sequence — a high-stakes element where perfection is expected. Fans were stunned when the French team still received high Grades of Execution, while Chock and Bates skated a nearly flawless "Paint It Black" routine and saw their scores remain stagnant.
An emotional Madison Chock on how she and Evan Bates felt after finishing their performance tonight: pic.twitter.com/MfHWJsUhtB
— Rohan Nadkarni (@RohanNadkarni) February 11, 2026While the French judge was criticized for an obvious nationalistic bias, the Spanish judge's scorecards have come under fire for what fans are calling "strategic lowballing" of the Americans. The Spanish judge gave Chock and Bates their lowest scores of the night in the Program Component categories. This was particularly jarring because the Spanish team, Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck, trains at the Ice Academy of Montreal — the same training camp as the gold-winning French team.
This was likely the final Olympic performance for the married American pair. Having won three consecutive World Championships, they were the heavy favorites to complete their trophy case with individual gold.
MORE: What is the difference between ice dancing and figure skating?
American fans' reaction to scoring
The reaction from American fans to the ice dance scoring has been a mixture of heartbreak and intense skepticism. While the silver medal is a career highlight for Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the narrow margin of defeat (1.43 points) has led to a "robbery" narrative across social media and within the arena.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skated their asses off and somehow France ended up in first place and they got silver despite the French team making mistakes.
They were robbed. pic.twitter.com/EdEc4K1asa
Evan Bates looks absolutely devastated. Madison Chock looks like she wants to stab someone.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 11, 2026MORE: Olympic figure skating standings
How is ice dancing scored?
Ice dancing is scored using the International Judging System (IJS), which divides a performance into two primary numerical categories: the Technical Element Score (TES) and the Program Component Score (PCS).
The Technical Panel identifies each element, such as twizzles or lifts, and assigns it a Base Value based on its level of difficulty from one to four. The Judging Panel then awards a Grade of Execution (GOE) for each element, ranging from -5 to +5, to reflect how well it was performed.
To prevent bias, the highest and lowest scores from the judges are discarded, and the remaining marks are averaged into a trimmed mean. In addition to technical elements, skaters are graded on Program Components, which evaluate their skating skills, composition, and presentation on a scale of 0.25 to 10.
The final Total Segment Score is calculated by adding the technical and artistic points together and then subtracting any deductions for errors like falls or time violations.
MORE: Are figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates married?
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