A Winter Olympics French judge is facing allegations of manipulating figure skating results to ensure a gold medal for France. The French pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron clinched the gold with a total score of 225.82, narrowly beating Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates by just 1.43 points.
Controversy arose after online revelations of the scoring by French judge Jezabel Dabouis. In ice dance competitions, skaters perform two routines over two days: the rhythm dance and the free dance. Chock and Bates, previous three-time world champions in the event, were favored in Milan.
Following the rhythm dance segment, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron topped the rankings, with Chock and Bates settling for second place. While five judges favored the French pair, only three placed the Americans at the top, highlighting discrepancies among judges.
Despite five judges scoring Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron higher, with Chock and Bates close behind, Dabouis awarded her compatriots a substantial 5.74-point lead. In the free dance, five out of nine judges favored Chock and Bates, yet Dabouis rated Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron significantly higher by 7.71 points.
Notably, no judge who ranked Chock and Bates first in the free dance placed them more than 4.1 points ahead of Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, including a U.S. judge. Responding to the backlash, the International Skating Union affirmed confidence in the scores and commitment to fairness.
In a statement, a spokesperson stated that score variations among judges are common, and mechanisms are in place to address them. Meanwhile, the Americans expressed mixed emotions over the situation, emphasizing their pride in their performances and sportsmanship at the Olympics.
Bates reflected on the subjective nature of judged sports, acknowledging the unpredictability of outcomes. Additionally, Sky has announced a discounted Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the upcoming season, offering over 1,400 live matches across various sports leagues, including the Premier League and more.
