American Ice Dancer Madison Chock’s Bold Call for ‘Transparent’ Judging Is Going Viral

Evan Bates and Madison Chock won silver in the Ice Dance event behind France’s Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry.

American Ice Dancer Madison Chock’s Bold Call for ‘Transparent’ Judging Is Going Viral

Madison Chock and Evan Bates performing their free dance routine of Ramin Djawadi’s orchestral arrangement of “Paint It Black” in the Westworld (Image via Fox News)

In Short
  • Madison Chock and Evan Bates won a controversial silver medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, finishing just 1.43 points behind the gold medalists.
  • Chock has called for more "transparent" judging and for judges to be vetted and reviewed following the scoring discrepancies.
  • The International Skating Union has opened an investigation into the judging but maintains that the scores were fair and within normal variations.

As the orchestral arrangement of “Paint It Black” by Ramin Djawadi came to a close at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Assago, Madison Chock and Evan Bates had warm smiles on their faces. It was a perfect skate by all means, a beautiful theme of matador and bull, and a performance devoid of any costly errors.

Unfortunately, the married couple, skating second to last, cruised to the first spot with a combined score of 224.39, an assured medal, one that everyone thought would be gold. Unfortunately, the story didn’t unfold that way.

When the final pair, Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry, took the ice, they had an advantage from the short program. Dancing to the tune of a medley of The Whale soundtrack, the controversial pair wasn’t nearly as clean as Team USA nor bronze medalists Canada’s Paul Poirier and Piper Gilles.

The French pair had synchronization troubles, faltering to perfect their twizzles. It had even happened in the short program as well. However, when the scores came, Cizeron and Beaudry went first in free skate and took the ice dance gold at Winter Olympics 2026.

Chock and Bates were nearly in tears when the judges announced the results. They had hoped for a different outcome. After the initial knee-jerk reactions, people noted an even more problematic judgement error.

Judge Jezabel Dabouis stood out from the panel by awarding Chock and Bates a free dance score of 129.74, the lowest among all nine judges and over five points below the panel average. Meanwhile, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were awarded a 137.45, nearly three points higher than the average score.

In light of the same, the silver medalists have come out openly calling for changes in the figure skating judging atmosphere.

In a CBS interview, Chock called for a more “transparent” judgement to enhance the viewing experience of the figure skating fans. She also called for the judges to be “vetted and reviewed.“

There’s a lot on the line for the skaters when they’re out there giving it their all, and we deserve to have the judges also giving us their all and for it to be a fair and even playing field.

The fans of the US pair have since started a petition on Change.org, prompted by the judging discrepancy and the French pair’s poor footing with the sport’s fan community. Beaudry defending her former partner Nikolaj Sorensen, who was accused of s**ual assault, has led people to inculpate her for enabling r**e culture. Meanwhile, Cizeron was accused of being controlling by his previous partner in her memoir.

In another interview, Madison Bates acknowledged the partition and thanked the people who are standing with them. She also said that confusion that has ensued since the competition was wrapped up two days back did “a disservice to the sport.“

International Skating Union stands by the controversial ice dance decision

After massive fan outrage and the petition, the International Skating Union (ISU) has opened an investigation into the judgment of the ice dance event. Following the investigation, the Lausanne-based organization announced that there was no foul play as alleged and the judgement was fair.

Team France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry (left) and Guillaume Cizeron (right) won gold in figure skating - ice dance, with a combined score of 225.82
Team France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry (left) and Guillaume Cizeron (right) won gold in figure skating – ice dance, with a combined score of 225.82 (Image via NBC News)

In a statement, ISU said that they are fully confident about the scores that were given while upholding the new review systems added for less discrepancies and more fair judgements.

It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judges on any panel. To mitigate these variations and ensure fairness, several mechanisms are in place.

The ISU said in a statement

The governing body explained that certain measures set in place for the same. They maintained that the highest and lowest scores for each technical element are removed to minimize the outlier influence. The score is then calculated, averaging the scores given by the remaining judges, while a technical panel takes a deeper inspection of the technical components.

They also stated that an Officials’ Assessment Committee offers an additional layer of oversight, adding that judges participate in regular training sessions to uphold a high level of scoring accuracy.

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