While U.S. figure skating ice dance duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates have graciously accepted their silver medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the outcome has been overshadowed by controversy over judging discrepancies.
Chock and Bates delivered a magnificent performance, with the latter even calling it their “absolute best," in both the rhythm dance and free dance routines across two days. However, they fell short of the gold medal by just 1.43 points. The French pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won gold, but the American duo appeared to allege that the judges favored them, particularly one from France.
What led Chock and Bates to question the outcome was the significant discrepancy among certain judges. The French judge awarded the pair from his country a score 5.74 points higher than the American duo in the rhythm dance. A similar pattern emerged in the free dance, when the French judge gave Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron a score 7.71 points higher than Chock and Bates, even though the average difference in scores from other judges ranged between 4 and 5 points.
James Lang-Imagn Images
Chock called for a review and greater scrutiny of the judging panel after the event, but in an interview with NBC on Thursday, she ultimately accepted the result, noting that setbacks are simply part of sport.
“I feel like life is sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way, and that’s life, and that’s sport,” Bates said. “And it’s a subjective sport. It’s a judged sport.”
While scoring discrepancies in ice dance finals are not unusual, it was the French judge’s apparent favoritism toward Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, who have been skating together for only a year, that drew particular attention.
The 33-year-old Chock emphasized that they were proud of their performances and the way they carried themselves throughout the competition.
“We’ve certainly gone through a roller coaster of emotions, especially in the last 24 hours,” Chock said. “And I think what we will take away is how we felt right after our skates and how proud we were of what we accomplished and how we handled ourselves throughout the whole week. Putting out four great performances at the Olympic Games is no small feat, and we’ve got a lot to be proud of.”
Chock and Bates have been dancing together for over 15 years and got married in 2024, with Wednesday’s podium finish marking their first-ever Olympic medal together. They are also both two-time Olympic gold medalists in the team event, having won those together at the 2022 and 2026 Winter Games.