ISU stands by Olympic ice dance scores as petition over figure skating judging nears 15,000
The International Skating Union has moved to shore up confidence in Olympic ice dance judging after a razor-thin finish placed France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron just ahead of Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. With a petition urging a probe into the scoring approaching 15, 000 signatures by Friday afternoon ET, scrutiny has zeroed in on a single judge’s wide scoring gap that proved pivotal in one of figure skating’s most contentious outcomes of these Games.
What the ISU says
, the sport’s governing body emphasized that a range of marks across a judging panel is expected and that safeguards are built into the system to blunt the impact of outliers. Under the current protocol, the highest and lowest scores for each element and program component are discarded before the remaining marks are averaged — a trimmed mean approach intended to reduce bias. The ISU said it has full confidence in the scores and reiterated its commitment to fairness.
A single judge’s gap under the microscope
The storm centers on the scoring submitted by a French judge across both segments. In the free dance, that judge marked the French champions nearly eight points higher than the American pair — a margin large enough that, if that specific free dance score were removed entirely, score-sheet math shows the result would flip. The trimmed-mean safeguard automatically dropped some of the most extreme awards, but the remaining spread still factored into the final calculation.
The rhythm dance featured narrower differences overall, yet the same judge again separated the teams by a wider gap than peers. Five of the nine judges placed the Americans first in the free dance, underscoring how divided the panel was. One judge from Spain scored Chock and Bates third in that segment, while none of the judges who had the Americans first gave them more than a 4. 1-point advantage over the eventual gold medalists.
How close the contest was
By the numbers, the margin was paper-thin from start to finish. After the rhythm dance, the French pair led by just 0. 46 points. In the free dance, the overall segment difference between the top two teams was under a point. The final tally put the gold medalists at 225. 82 and the silver medalists at 224. 39 — a 1. 43-point gap across two days of skating. Those figures illustrate how even modest variations in program component marks or grade-of-execution can swing podium placements in elite figure skating.
Chock and Bates respond
Asked about the controversy on Thursday ET, Chock and Bates chose reflection over confrontation. The reigning three-time world champions emphasized pride in their performances and the consistency they showed throughout the week. “We’ve certainly gone through a roller coaster of emotions, ” Chock said, noting the pair put down what they viewed as four strong skates across the Games. Bates added that figure skating is a subjective, judged sport — an inherent reality that athletes must navigate even on their best days.
The Americans, who have been virtually unbeaten over the past three seasons aside from a single runner-up finish to Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, called the public support meaningful. They acknowledged awareness of the petition but kept their focus on the quality of their skating and the moment they created on Olympic ice.
What happens next
Current rules leave limited avenues for formal challenges unless the governing body initiates a review of judging conduct. As of Friday afternoon ET, there was no indication of such a review. The episode has nevertheless rekindled debate around subjectivity in figure skating scoring and whether further transparency or reforms are warranted — especially in events decided by less than two points. For now, the results stand, the ISU is signaling stability in its system, and a sport well-versed in controversy faces familiar questions with a new generation of skaters at the center.
