ISU Defends Ice Dance Judging After French Score Decides Olympic Gold
ISU said it stands by judging after French judge Jezabel Dabouis’ wide free-dance score helped Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron beat Chock and Bates 225.82–224.39 at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Overview
The International Skating Union said it stands by the ice dance scores that awarded Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron the Olympic gold over Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
The issue centers on French judge Jezabel Dabouis giving a nearly eight-point advantage to the French pair in the free dance, and officials said removing her score would have given the U.S. team gold.
Madison Chock urged that judges be vetted and reviewed and Evan Bates said their performance was their best, while more than 10,000 people had signed a petition asking for an investigation by Friday.
Beaudry and Cizeron won gold with 225.82 points to Chock and Bates’ 224.39 after free-dance scores of 135.64 and 134.67, and five of nine judges favored the American team in the free dance.
Chock and Bates said they would consider appealing and called for greater judging transparency, while the ISU said it has full confidence in the scores and announced no investigation, leaving little recourse for the Americans.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the results as suspicious and confusing by emphasizing numerical disparities, past controversy, and U.S. athletes’ calls for vetting. Reporting uses loaded terms (e.g., "questionable," "controversial"), foregrounds American reactions and a 2002 scandal, and highlights a large seven-point judge swing and a 10,000-signature petition to heighten skepticism.
Sources (10)
FAQ
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won gold with 225.82 points, while Madison Chock and Evan Bates scored 224.39 points, a difference of 1.43 points.
History
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