Bold claim: the Olympic ice dance result hinged on one judge’s scores, prompting U.S. Figure Skating to seek a formal review of the judging system. U.S. Figure Skating plans to send a letter to the International Skating Union requesting an evaluation of the scoring method that effectively allowed a single judge to influence the outcome of the 2026 Olympic ice dance competition, a source familiar with the situation told me on Friday.
The final result was a slim margin: 1.43 points separate French duo Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron from the U.S. pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
“We don’t expect a reversal,” the source said. “We are doing this in support of our athletes.”
The controversial judge is Jézabel Dabouis of France, who gave Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron nearly eight points more in the free dance (137.45) than she awarded Chock and Bates (129.74), according to data from skatingscores.com. This disparity stood out not only in the free dance, but because Dabouis’ free-dance scores for the French champions were the only scores above 130 she assigned to any of the 20 competitors.
In contrast, five of the nine judges had Chock and Bates ahead at the free-dance stage. A source remarked, “The numbers tell the story. Chock and Bates had five of the nine first-place rankings, so the only path for the French team to win was for the French judge to distribute points more broadly, and that’s what happened.” The implication: the judge’s scoring effectively decided the panel, which raises concerns about safeguards in the judging system.
A formal letter outlining these concerns is expected to be sent over the weekend.
It’s important to note that mathematical comparisons between judges are not exact. The result is determined by dropping the highest and lowest scores among the nine judges for each element and component, and when multiple judges share the same top or bottom mark, it isn’t always possible to identify exactly whose scores were dropped.
Dabouis also granted the eventual gold medalists a substantial advantage in the rhythm dance segment, awarding them 5.74 more points than Chock and Bates. Her rhythm-dance score for Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron (93.34) was the only score above 87.6 given to any team in that phase.
When the totals were tallied, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron won the rhythm dance by 0.46 points and the free dance by 0.97 points.
In a statement sent Friday, an ISU spokesperson said: “It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judges in any panel, and a number of mechanisms are used to mitigate these variations. The ISU has full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness.”
Chock and Bates—who have won the last three world titles—appeared puzzled by the result but spoke with composure after the decision. Bates reflected, “Sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way. That’s life, and that’s sport; it’s a subjective sport. It’s a judged sport. But one indisputable fact is that we delivered our best performance.”
