Chock and Bates win silver amid growing debates surrounding figure skating scoring
The American ice dance duo lost out on gold by only 1.43 points, which has fans scrutinizing the judging panel
Evan Bates and Madison Chock during the 2026 Winter Olympics ice dance competition.
NBC Sports
Words by Helen Li
Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the silver medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics ice dance competition, placing second behind French ice dancing duo Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry. Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier placed third for the bronze.
This time, the silver medal sent ripples through the figure skating world.
Ice dance and figure skating culture has become a hot topic of discussion in recent months, specifically surrounding the inconsistencies of scoring. Fans online pointed to how the French judge Jezabel Dabouis gave Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry almost eight more points than Chock and Bates in the free dance, despite possible misalignments in the French team’s step and other lift sequences upon video review.
In a subjective sport like ice dance, a panel of nine judges selected from an international pool of thirteen determines rankings and scores. When one judge’s scores significantly differ from the other panelists, it causes controversy in the results: since Chock and Bates lost out on gold by only 1.43 points, the scores have become even more scrutinized.
After their medal ceremony, Chock and Bates told press that they had gone through a “roller coaster of emotions, especially in the last 24 hours.”
“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,” Chock said. Two days before their individual competition, the couple had skated twice in the Olympic team final as well to help Team USA win gold.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, the figure skating champion and ice dance costume designer said that she “would consider” an appeal of the judge’s decision, but noted the fact that figure skating is a subjective sport.
“I do think that for fairness, it is good when the judges are reviewed for their work and not just after this competition, but every competition, to just make sure that there's a fair and even playing field for all athletes,” she said. A change.org petition requesting that the International Skating Union (ISU) and the International Olympic Committee investigate the scoring has circulated online, collecting more than 20,000 signatures. U.S. Figure Skating told USA Today that they will not appeal the results.
The ISU released a statement on Friday backing the judge’s decision, saying that they had “full confidence” in the scores given and the fairness: “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.”
Figure skating has experienced several scoring system overhauls in the last twenty years, and starting this July, there will be another new one. The ISU plans to also implement AI scoring to analyze skaters' technical elements in real time to minimize human error. This will hopefully lead to less controversy and help the competitors and public understand more of how scoring in a subjective sport works.
For now, the American ice dancing couple will rest after a long week of competition in Milan. It is unclear if Chock and Bates will retire yet; this is Bates’s fourth Olympics cycle and Chock’s third. “We are so grateful for all of the love,” Chock posted on Instagram.
Published on February 17, 2026
Words by Helen Li
Helen Li is a journalist and fact-checker based in Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Rest of World, Semafor, and Business Insider. In her free time, she appreciates a good hike, watches NCAA gymnastics, and occasionally dives into Reddit rabbit holes where she finds fascinating stories. She also just completed her first women's rugby 15s season. You can reach her on Signal @hliwrites.99.