At the 2026 Winter Olympics, French team Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won ice dance gold with a 225.82 total, narrowly beating USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates (224.36) by 1.46 points.

The controversy hinged on a 7.71-point gap in the free dance from the French judge, who scored the French pair 137.45 and Chock/Bates 129.74.

Key Scoring Breakdown (Free Dance):

French Judge (Jezabel Dabouis): Awarded Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron 137.45 and Chock/Bates 129.74.

U.S. Judge (Janis Engel): Awarded Chock/Bates 137.67 and Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron 133.57.

Czech Judge (Richard Kosina): Scored Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron 138.49 and Chock/Bates 135.23.

Spanish Judge (Marta Olozagarre): Scored Fournier Beaudry/Cizeron 137.03 and Chock/Bates 132.75.

Total Free Dance: French team finished with 135.64 in the free dance and 90.18 in the rhythm dance.

The French judge's 129.74 for Chock and Bates was the lowest of the nine-person panel. Despite a visible error by the French team on their twizzles, the overall panel’s scoring allowed them to hold their lead, with 5 of 6 top-ranking judges having the teams within a 3.5-point margin, excluding the 7.71-point gap from the French judge.

Not mentioned was another error in a lift near the end of the French program. Ol' Mondo notices dese tings, having watch ice skating for decades, and still owning my CCMs and Bauers.

The French judge in 2002 Olympics was banned for biased judging in the Sale/Pelletier case, and Sale/Pelletier were awarded gold along with the Russian pair.