For many viewers, ice dancing is one of the most entertaining events at the Winter Olympics. But the opening of this year’s competition did not come without controversy.
The 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday (February 6) in Milan, Italy, and will run until February 22.
On Monday (February 9), several viewers expressed their disappointment over what they deemed an unfair score for the US ice dancing team.
Highlights
- Team USA ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates finished second in the rhythm dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
- French duo Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won the rhythm dance with the highest cumulative score of 90.18.
- Viewers accused French judges of bias after awarding the French team top scores while giving the US team lower marks during the event.
Image credits: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
The two gold-medal favorite pairs were the United States’ Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
The two gold-medal favorite pairs were the United States’ Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
While the French pair had the highest cumulative score of the day, several people scrutinized the judges for missing points in their routine, which was out of sync in some areas, as per Newsweek.
Viewers found it suspicious that the French judges awarded the French duo the highest score on the panel—almost two points higher than any other judge–while giving the USA skaters their second-lowest score.
Image credits: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
“I honestly don’t get what the ice dancing judges love with the French pair. That was just a lot of arm flailing in the rhythm dance,” one person fumed.
“If you’re just tuning to ice dance for the 1st time in 4 yrs, welcome! Find your fave but beware the trash judges,” read another comment.
“Judges overscoring the French ice dance team what else is new,” echoed a third viewer.
Image credits: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
The French duo scored 90.18 points, their best ever, for their routine to Madonna's Vogue. Meanwhile, triple world champions Chock and Bates’ rock-and-roll performance earned them 89.72 points.
The rhythm dance theme was “music, dance styles, and feelings of the 1990s.”
Figure skaters are scored based on connecting their footwork throughout their routines, but ice dancers are more like ballroom dancers and are evaluated on precision as well as the connection between the couple, Team USA’s Bates explained.
Image credits: Olympics
Ice dancing also has more restrictions compared to figure skating.
"We can only do lifts that are below the head, so I can’t raise my hands above my head, which is a really easy distinction when you’re trying to differentiate between pairs and ice dancing," the Olympian told People in 2018.
Chock and Bates, who are also a couple off the ice, are competing at their fourth Olympics together. The married pair won a gold medal in the team event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Viewers protested that the French judges gave the French team the highest score on the panel
Image credits: Olympics
The ice dancers will have a chance to defeat Beaudry and Cizeron, the European champions, on Wednesday (February 11) in the free dance segment that will determine who takes home the gold medal.
"We're not changing anything. We've got this locked in, locked in where we know ourselves, know our routine. And yeah, we've got this," said Chock.
"Every time we step on the ice, we feel very grateful and happy to be able to do this together. It's just bonus time doing a sport that we love," expressed Team France's Cizeron.
Image credits: Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images
This is not the first setback encountered by Team USA at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn lost control a few seconds into her downhill run and had to be airlifted to a hospital on February 8.
The 41-year-old, who had suffered a serious ACL injury in January, underwent surgery to stabilize a fracture in her left leg following the accident.
“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash,” Vonn explained on Instagram.
The controversy comes after skier Lindsey Vonn’s horrific accident that required surgery
Image credits: lindseyvonn/Instagram
The four-time World Cup champion stated that she has “no regrets.”
“Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.”
Image credits: hunterhess10/Instagram
The games also took a political turn when Donald Trump called Team USA’s Hunter Hess a “real loser” after the Olympic skier declared that he had “mixed emotions” about representing his country.
Hess previously said during a press conference, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US. It’s a little hard; there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t.”
Similarly, skier Chris Lillis mentioned ICE and said he felt “heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States.”
Vice President JD Vance and second lady, Usha Vance, were booed while attending the Olympics opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium.
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