Chock and Bates win silver medals, moving forward high
USA TODAY Sports’ Jordan Mendoza spoke to Madison Chock and Evan Bates about their silver medal in ice dancing and how they’re handling the controversy surrounding it.
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- Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates won silver medals in ice dancing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
- The French team of Laurence Fournier Baudry and Guillaume Cizeron won the gold medal, but the decision was controversial.
- Looking at the breakdown of the scores, it can be seen that the French referee gave the French team the advantage by creating the largest difference in points.
- Chock and Bates were proud of their performance and said they felt they could not have skated any better.
MILAN – The biggest question in figure skating today: Why didn’t Madison Chock and Evan Bates win ice dance gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The husband and wife duo were the favorites to take part in the competition, but had to settle for silver as the French team of Laurence Fournier Baudry and Guillaume Cizeron took gold. The decision sparked a furious reaction from American fans and fellow American figure skaters on social media and elsewhere. It is a timeless feeling that Chock and Bates performed a flawless free dance powerful enough to win the gold medal.
Bewdley and Cizeron, who held a 0.46 point lead entering the night, skated well, but not too sharply. However, they ended up with a better score, 135.64 to Chock and Bates’ 134.67, for a margin of victory of 1.43 points.
How did it happen? Here’s a breakdown of the judges’ scores for both teams and what they revealed.
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How is figure skating ice dancing scored? Free dance score explanation
First, let’s look at how free dance is scored.
The program consists of two scores: a technical score and a component score. The technical score is made up of how each skater executes their spins, jumps, and step sequences. Levels are graded from 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest.
Component scores evaluate a program’s structure, presentation, and skating skills, including choreography and connection to music.
According to the U.S. Figure Skating Association, the goal of the free dance program is “to present fun, moving, moving performances that look effortless despite their difficulty. Innovative choreography, timing, and rhythm are paramount.”
Chock and Bates finished with a technical component score of 76.75 and a program component score of 57.92. By comparison, Beaudry and Cizeron had a technical component score of 77.06 and a program component score of 58.58.
What score did the free dance judges give?
There were a total of nine judges for the free dance. Chock and Bates received the highest score from five judges, while Bewdley and Cizeron received the highest score from four judges. But to understand more, let’s take a closer look at each judge’s score.
Czech judge Richard Kosina awarded Bewdley and Cizeron the highest score of 138.49, while Chock and Bates received 135.23 points. However, the biggest difference went to French judge Jezabelle Dabouis, who awarded Baudry and Cizeron 137.45 points and Chock and Bates 129.74 points, a difference of 7.71 points. This score of 129.74 was also Chock and Bates’ lowest score among the nine judges.
In addition, Spanish judge Marta Orozagare awarded Baudry and Cizeron with 137.03 points and Chock and Bates with 132.75 points, placing them third behind Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who won bronze medals.
U.S. judge Janice Engel gave Chock and Bates the highest score of 137.67, while Bewdley and Cizeron received the third-lowest score of the group, 133.57.
Breakdown of scores by judge:
- Bewdry and Cizeron: 137.45 (Judge 1, France), 134.19 (Judge 2, Georgia), 137.03 (Judge 3, Spain), 130.94 (Judge 4 Finland), 133.57 (Judge 5, USA), 136.49 (Judge 6, Canada), 134.40 (Judge 7, Italy), 133.26 (Judge 7, Italy) 8, China), 138.49 (judge 9, Czech), 135.64, (segment total score)
- Chock and Bates: 129.74 (Judge 1, France), 134.88 (Judge 2, Georgia), 132.75 (Judge 3, Spain), 130.97 (Judge 4 Finland), 137.97 (Judge 5, USA), 135.47 (Judge 6, Canada), 135.75 (Judge 7, Italy), 136.95 (Judge 8, China), 135.23 (judge 9, Czech), 134.67 (segment total score)
What were the technical factors for Chock and Bates, Bewdley and Cizeron?
The technical elements and scores for Chock and Bates are as follows:
- Choreographed assisted jumping and lifting movements: 4.89
- Curb lift: 15.29
- Synchronized Twizzle: 9.54
- Choreographed character step sequence: 5.13
- One-legged turn sequence: 8.90
- Rotating lift: 7.78
- dance spin: 8.25
- Diagonal step sequence: 12.08
- Choreographic sliding movement: 4.89
The technical elements and scores for Bewdley and Cizeron are as follows:
- Synchronized Twizzle: 8.44
- One-legged turn sequence: 9.48
- Rotating lift: 7.71
- Dance spin: 8.41
- Curb lift: 15.70
- Winding step sequence: 11.93
- Choreographed assisted jumping and lifting movements: 5.01
- Choreographed character step sequence: 5.25
- Choreography dance lift: 5.13
Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ reactions to judges’ scores
In figure skating, judges don’t have to explain their decisions in detail, but fans and figure skaters past and present are trying to understand how the decision was made.
Chock and Bates said they felt like they had a “gold medal performance” and were emotional after the medal ceremony, calling the result “bittersweet.” At the medalists’ press conference, the skaters were asked whether the judges’ scores accurately reflected their performances.
“Every time we stepped on the Olympic ice, we skated our best,” Chock said. “All four performances we got here at the Olympics, we’re very proud of. For us they were perfect. We couldn’t have skated any better and we’re very proud of the way we took the ice, the way we handled ourselves every time. The rest is out of our control.”
The silver medal was Chock and Bates’ first ice dance Olympic medal in their fourth and likely final Winter Olympics. They are two-time gold medalists in the team event, most recently here in Milan.
