Winter Olympics chaos as judge accused of ‘rigging’ result for her own country | Other | Sport
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron took the gold medal for France (Image: Tang Xinyu/VCG via Getty Images)
A judge at the Winter Olympics has been accused of manipulating the figure skating results to ensure a gold medal for her nation. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, representing France, clinched gold with an overall score of 225.82. The duo garnered just 1.43 points more than Team USA pairing Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
However, the outcome has been mired in controversy after the scores of French judge Jezabel Dabouis emerged online. In the ice dance segment of figure skating, the partnered skaters are required to perform two distinct routines over two days: the rhythm dance and the free dance. Chock and Bates, having won three consecutive world championships in the same event, were the favourites in Milan.
Following the rhythm dance portion on Monday, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were ranked first, leaving the Americans to accept second place.
Five judges awarded France the highest score, whilst only three placed Chock and Bates at the top, but the disparity among certain judges was striking.
Five out of the six judges who scored Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s routine the highest still had Chock and Bates within 3.5 points of them.
However, Dabouis awarded her fellow countrymen 5.74 more points than Chock and Bates, easily the largest margin among the judges.
Following the completion of the free dance on Wednesday, five of the nine judges placed Chock and Bates at the top. Remarkably, Dabouis awarded Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s performance a substantial 7.71 points more.
None of the judges who had Chock and Bates first in the free dance granted them more than a 4.1-point lead over eventual champions Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, including an adjudicator from the United States.
The International Skating Union have subsequently released a statement addressing the controversy.
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Madison Chock and Evan Bates were forced to settle for second place (Image: Tang Xinyu/VCG via Getty Images)
A spokesperson commented: “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. The ISU has full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness.”
On Thursday, the American duo spoke with NBC News regarding the judges’ scoring. After exchanging looks, Chock responded: “We’ve certainly gone through a roller coaster of emotions, especially in the last 24 hours.
“And 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.”
After the event, Bates remarked: “I feel like life is sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way, and that’s life and that’s sport. And it’s a subjective sport, it’s a judged sport.”
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