French team bests USAs Madison Chock, Evan Bates…
Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates can have to wait to add an particular person Olympic gold to their in depth mixed determine skating résumé.
The American couple took home silver in the Olympic ice dance competitors, ending with 224.39 general factors after a assertion efficiency during Wednesday’s free dance set to the theme of bullfighting.
France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron stole the show, however, scoring a 135.64 for their free dance routine — and a complete rating of 224.39 — to just edge out Chock and Bates for the gold.
Madison Chock and accomplice Evan Bates of Team United States compete in the Ice Dance – Free Dance on day 5 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic video games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy. Getty Images
Canadian duo Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier rounded out the rostrum with a complete rating of 217.74 for bronze as all three pairs each earned their first Olympic medals in ice dance.
The American duo had entered Wednesday’s competitors trailing behind the French pair by less than a level following the rhythm dance event that had taken place Monday.
Chock and Bates carried out their routine to an instrumental model of “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones and wowed the group, which roared after the couple completed their efficiency. The judges agreed and awarded them a 134.67 rating, a season’s best for the 2, that vaulted them into first place.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
Beaudry and Cizeron went last and accomplished their routine to the soundtrack from “The Whale.” They still managed to get the best rating of the evening even after receiving a decrease degree in their twizzle sequence.
Chock and Bates, who have been an on-ice pair for 15 years and obtained married in 2024, applauded Beaudry and Cizeron after their rating was read.
Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of Team France carry out during the Ice Dance Free Dance on day 5 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic video games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy. Getty Images
The American duo had come to Milan hoping to obtain particular person gold after already profitable three world championships and seven national titles. Their best end in the Olympics got here in Beijing 4 years in the past when they completed fourth.
Fellow American pairs Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik completed in fifth place with a complete rating of 209.58 and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko positioned eleventh with a 197.62 complete rating. Both pairs have been making their Olympic debut.
Beaudry and Cizeron’s gold comes amid a swell of controversy between the 2 of them.
Silver medalists Madison Chock and accomplice Evan Bates of Team United States look on after the medal ceremony for Ice Dance on day 5 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic video games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy. Getty Images
Cizeron had been accused by his former longtime determine skating accomplice, Gabriella Papadakis, of being “often controlling, demanding and critical” and that she didn’t need to be alone with him in a memoir printed in January. He denied the claims, calling them a “smear campaign,” and said he can be pursuing legal motion.
Meanwhile, Beaudry’s boyfriend and accomplice, Nikolaj Sørensen, had been banned by Skate Canada over allegations of “inappropriate maltreatment” made by an American determine skating coach and former skater. The suspension was overturned on jurisdictional grounds last June and Beaudry has publicly defended Sørensen on a quantity of events.
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