The American ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, three-time reigning world champions, secured silver at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday after finishing 1.43 points behind France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. The result followed a clean performance by the U.S. duo and prompted debate among observers regarding scoring, though broader attention has focused on off-ice controversies surrounding members of the gold medal-winning partnership.
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, who formed their partnership less than a year ago, delivered a program set to music from the film The Whale to claim gold. The victory marked a rapid ascent for the new pairing, which also won the European Championships in Sheffield last month.
Their collaboration followed personal and professional upheaval involving their previous partners. Fournier Beaudry had skated for years with Danish-Canadian ice dancer Nikolaj Sørensen, whom she began dating in 2013. In 2024, Canada’s national governing body for figure skating imposed a minimum six-year suspension on Sørensen for “sexual maltreatment” in connection with allegations that he sexually assaulted an American coach and former skater in 2012. Sørensen denied the allegations. The suspension was overturned in 2025 on jurisdictional grounds.
Fournier Beaudry has publicly defended Sørensen. In the Glitter & Gold documentary series, she described the impact of the suspension as professionally and personally devastating, stating that she believed both her and her partner’s reputations were unfairly affected.
Cizeron, 31, has also faced allegations related to his conduct. In her memoir, So as Not to Disappear, published in France last month, former French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis described her former skating partner as controlling and intimidating during their long partnership, which began in childhood and culminated in Olympic gold at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Papadakis wrote that she avoided being alone with him and requested a coach’s presence during training. Cizeron has rejected the allegations, characterizing them as defamatory and reportedly pursuing legal action.
Papadakis, who retired from competition in December 2024, was subsequently removed from a broadcasting role with NBC. The network told The Athletic that the circumstances surrounding the publication of her memoir made it difficult to ensure commentary perceived as impartial.
The convergence of these developments has contributed to a tense atmosphere at the Games. In the same Netflix series, former U.S. Olympic medalist and commentator Adam Rippon described the new French partnership as having a “sinister energy,” a remark that underscored the unease felt by some within the skating community.
Fournier Beaudry, born in Montreal, previously represented Canada and Denmark before switching national allegiance to France. She made her international debut with Cizeron in October and received French citizenship three months ago.
In Milan, the French pair declined to engage extensively with questions about the allegations, stating their intention to concentrate on their performances and to approach the competition with gratitude.
Meanwhile, Chock and Bates—competing in their fourth Olympics and married since 2024—expressed mixed emotions following the result. Their routine to a rendition of “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones was widely praised. They finished ahead of Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who earned bronze, but fell narrowly short of a first Olympic title. Chock described the outcome as “bittersweet,” reflecting both satisfaction with their performance and disappointment at missing gold.
