Winter Olympics judge faces rigging claims after ice dance gold score dispute
Fans question a French judge’s scoring after USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates lose Olympic gold to French pair
A French figure skating judge has been accused by fans of ‘rigging’ the Winter Olympics ice dance event after scoring details emerged following the gold medal result.
Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates were left visibly emotional after finishing second to France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The French pair secured gold with a combined score of 225.82, just 1.43 points ahead of the Americans, while Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier claimed bronze.
The controversy centres on scores awarded by French judge Jezabel Dabouis. In the free dance, she gave Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron 137.45, the second-highest total from the panel. She awarded Chock and Bates 129.74, making her the only judge not to score the American pair above 130.
The gap between her scores for France and the United States was nearly eight points, larger than that of any other judge. Five of the nine judges ranked the American duo highest in the free dance, while four placed France first.
In the rhythm dance, Dabouis awarded France 93.34, nearly six points higher than her score for the United States, which was the second lowest among the panel. None of the nine judges placed the US lower than second overall, and three ranked them first.
On social media, fans questioned the disparity. One user wrote: “The[re] must be an investigation!” Another said: “This is a judging scandal.” A third commented: “There aren’t many times in sports where several times over it seems to be rigged… Chock and Bates (and others) got robbed.”
There is no indication that the International Olympic Committee intends to review the judging at this stage.
