Skating scandal: U.S. pair unhappy amid gold-medal controversy

Of all the medals handed out so far at the Milan–Cortina Winter Games, one stands out for all the wrong reasons: the figure-skating gold won by France’s Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry in Wednesday’s free dance final. Alongside the troubling accusations leveled against Cizeron in a recent biography by his former skating partner, Gabriella Papadakis, new concerns are now coming from the United States - which took silver through Evan Bates and Madison Chock - regarding the judging panel in the free dance.

Starting with Cizeron, Papadakis’ account - which may ultimately have to be tested in court, as Cizeron has already instructed his attorney to take legal action - is harrowing. In January 2026, the skater from Clermont-Ferrand told France Info that she reached a point where “even the idea of being alone with him was terrifying.” “Sometimes he ignores you, sometimes he acts like nothing is wrong and he’s your best friend,” she added. Soon after, she released her book, So as Not to Disappear, in which she portrays Cizeron as an extremely controlling athlete.

She also delves into the details of their final split, pointing to what she describes as the troubling relationship between the Ice Academy of Montreal - one of the sport’s premier training centers - and Nikolaj Sorensen. Sorensen was accused of sexually assaulting an American skater in 2012, suspended for six years by Skate Canada, then later reinstated by a judge, though the case is now under review again.

Sorensen is in a relationship with Fournier Beaudry, with whom he competed before his suspension, and he was present at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Wednesday for the free dance. In fact, the French duo even waved to him from the ice after finishing their routine. “As someone who has experienced sexual assault, the idea of appearing in the same photo as Sorensen, of being associated with him, made me sick,” Papadakis says. She issued an ultimatum to Cizeron to leave the academy with her, and when he refused, she ended their partnership.

Team USA calls for review of judging panel

A second front has now opened - this time from U.S. Figure Skating - aimed at Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry’s victory. Chock and Bates, who finished just 1.43 points behind the French team, appear to be far from satisfied with the scores handed down by the judges. “[It would] definitely be helpful if it [the judging system] is more understandable for the viewers, to just see more transparent judging and understand … what’s really going on,” Chock told CBS News. “I think it’s also important for the skaters, that the judges be vetted and reviewed to make sure that they are also putting out their best performance.”

“Felt like a winning skate to us”

Chock and Bates, competing in their first season as a married couple, came into the final among the gold‑medal favorites after posting a personal-best 89.72 in the rhythm dance - just 0.46 behind the Europeans. In the free dance, they delivered what many observers felt was the cleaner overall performance compared to Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry, who had one error - cleverly disguised - by him during a twizzle sequence. In the U.S., many believe that mistake should have been penalized more harshly.

In figure skating, every element has a base value that can rise or fall depending on execution quality. One judge on the panel, France’s Jezabel Dabouis, reportedly gave the Americans more than seven points fewer than the champions in this category alone - a gap that struck many as excessive based on what actually unfolded on the ice. But the podium is already set, and there’s little Chock and Bates can do now beyond accept the result. Wednesday’s performance “felt like a winning skate to us and that’s what we’re going to hold on to,” they said, per Reuters.

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