A French judge at the Winter Olympics is facing scrutiny after accusations of manipulating the figure skating results to favor her compatriots.
Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates were left heartbroken after narrowly missing gold to France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. The American pair described their performance as “flawless,” with Chock visibly emotional during her post-event interview. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron ultimately won gold with a total score of 225.82, edging out the Americans by just 1.43 points, while Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier claimed bronze.
The controversy arose after score sheets revealed how French judge Jezabel Dabouis scored the event. In the free dance, she awarded the French duo 137.45 points—the second-highest on the panel—while giving Team USA 129.74, the only score under 130 from any judge. Had the Americans crossed that threshold, the margin would have been even slimmer. By contrast, U.S. and Chinese judges gave Chock and Bates 137.67 and 136.95, respectively. Dabouis’ nearly eight-point scoring gap between the French and American teams was far larger than any other judge’s.
Five of nine judges ranked the Americans first in the free dance, compared with four for France. In the rhythm dance, Dabouis again scored France highest at 93.34, almost six points above her score for the U.S., which was the second-lowest among the panel.
Across both segments, no judge ranked the American duo lower than second, with three giving them first place. Meanwhile, judges from Great Britain and Germany placed France third in parts of the competition. Despite the divided rankings, the French pair narrowly secured victory. Notably, the American judge was excluded from the rhythm dance panel, while the French judge remained.
The scoring discrepancies have sparked widespread debate on social media, with many fans calling for an investigation and labeling the incident a “judging scandal.” One user wrote, “There must be an investigation!” while another commented, “This is a judging scandal.”
