The Winter Olympics has been engulfed in further controversy after the judges’ scores in the figure skating ice dance emerged, with France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron having won gold
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron’s win has become shrouded in controversy(Image: Tang Xinyu/VCG via Getty Images)
A French judge at the Winter Olympics has been accused of rigging the figure skating in order to secure the gold medal for her country. France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron took home gold with a total score of 225.82.
The couple accumulated just 1.43 more points than Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates. But the result has become shrouded in controversy after the scores of French judge Jezabel Dabouis emerged online.
In figure skating’s ice dance competition, the paired skaters must perform two different routines across two days: the rhythm dance and the free dance. Chock and Bates had won three successive world championships in the same event and were the favourites in Milan.
After the rhythm dance section on Monday, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were scored in first place while the Americans had to settle for second. Five judges gave Frane the higgest score whereas only three had Chock and Bates top of the pile, but the discrepancy among certain judges was eye-catching.
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Five of the six judges who rated Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s routine the highest still had Chock and Bates within 3.5 points of them. But Dabouis gave her compatriots 5.74 more points than Chock and Bates, comfortably the greatest advantage among the judges.
When the free dance was completed on Wednesday, five of the nine judges scored Chock and Bates highest. Interestingly, Dabouis rated Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s routine a huge 7.71 points higher.
Not a single judge who rated Chock and Bates in first place for the free dance gave them more than a 4.1-point advantage over eventual winners Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, including an judge from the United States. The International Skating Union has since issued a statement following the backlash.
A 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.”
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On Thursday, the Americans spoke to NBC News and were asked about the judges’ scores. After exchanging glances, Chock replied: “We’ve certainly gone through a roller coaster of emotions, especially in the last 24 hours.
“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.”
Following the event, Bates commented: “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. And it’s a subjective sport. It’s a judged sport.”
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