Sports
Ice dance controversy: Inside French scoring, allegations
MILAN — On Wednesday, France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance, narrowly edging out heavy favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States — and the turmoil over the outcome remains.
Both teams recorded their season-best score in the free dance, but ultimately Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron edged out Chock and Bates by a margin of 1.43 points after both nights of competition. Chock and Bates, the three-time reigning world champions, were clearly disappointed after the scores were announced and were emotional throughout the podium ceremony and during their media obligations later in the evening. Bates called their program their “gold medal performance” and both said they were proud of what they had done on the ice.
While Chock and Bates have remained gracious when asked about the judging of the competition, the results have sparked backlash — and conversations about inconsistencies and potential unfairness.
Here’s everything to know about the judging discrepancies and other controversies around the French team.
Why do people believe the outcome was unfair?
After Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron earned the highest scores in the rhythm dance segment on Monday, despite some obvious synchronization issues on their twizzles and a clean skate from Chock and Bates, there was already debate about potential bias.
However, that went into hyperdrive after the free dance as Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron again had visible errors with their twizzles. Chock and Bates, on the other hand, had no such problems, and again had a near-flawless execution of their twizzles and all elements.
While several of the judges scores raised questions of bias and even nationalism, it was the French judge that really garnered notice. The judge, Jezabel Dabouis, scored Chock and Bates’ free dance a 129.74 — the lowest score from all nine of the judges on the panel and more than five points lower than the average. Dabouis gave Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron a 137.45, nearly three points higher than the average score from the panel.
The same judge raised eyebrows when judging both duos at the Grand Prix Finals in December, and gave the Americans only a slight edge despite multiple errors and a fall from Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron.
While Dabouis’ scoring was perhaps the most blatant and consequential, the Italian judge also drew ire for giving the top Italian duo Marco Fabbri and Charlene Guignard a questionable score despite an error. The Italian judge was the only one of the nine judges to place them in the top three.
Who has spoken out about it?
Chock and Bates have been measured in their reaction, but both have said multiple times they felt that they had skated at their highest level and did everything they could.
“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,” Bates said on NBC after the competition. “And it’s a subjective sport. It’s a judged sport. But I think one fact that is indisputable is that we delivered our best, we skated our best, we did season’s best almost every single time. And the rest is not up to us.”
In an interview with CBS on Thursday, Chock added she believed judges should be “vetted.”
“There’s a lot on the line for the skaters when they’re out there giving it their all, and we deserve to have the judges also giving us their all and for it to be a fair and even playing field,” she said.
In another interview, she added such confusion about results “does a disservice to our sport.”
Others have been even more outspoken about their feelings. Even Fabbri, who finished just off of the podium with Guignard, made his feelings clear after the event.
“I usually prefer Laurence and Guillaume,” Fabbri told reporters. “But tonight, Chock and Bates deserved [the gold medal].”
Guignard said she agreed. Fellow American ice dancer Emilea Zingas, who finished in fifth with her partner Vadym Kolesnik, expressed a similar sentiment when speaking to the media.
“I think they skated fabulously today,” she said. “It’s disappointing to me that they didn’t get the gold, but they’re my favorites. If it was my gold to give, I’d give it to them.”
A fan petition has since been created on Change.org urging the International Skating Union to investigate. At the time of this writing it has over 15,000 signatures.
Simply BEAUTIFUL. This is what 15 years of skating together looks like. 😍 pic.twitter.com/UQhpVEBB90
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 11, 2026
Has the ISU responded?
The ISU issued a statement on Friday defending the scoring.
“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 said.
The organization added it has “full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness.”
Who are Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron?
The French duo at the center of it all are no strangers to controversy.
Fournier Beaudry had previously represented Canada with Nikolaj Sorensen, who is also her romantic partner, before he was suspended from the sport for six years following sexual assault allegations. She has publicly issued her support of him. The suspension was overturned in June on jurisdictional grounds, but the case remains pending.
Cizeron won Olympic gold in 2022 with his partner Gabriella Papadakis. She has since retired, as he did initially, and released a book this year calling him “controlling” and “demanding.” Cizeron has said Papadakis’ book and her allegations were a “smear campaign” and has denied the claims.
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron announced they were teaming up last year — to much scrutiny — and are in their first season together. Fournier Beaudry received her French citizenship in November. The duo won two Grand Prix titles and the European Championships before coming to the Olympics — an unusual run of success for such a new pairing.
They train at the Ice Academy of Montreal, alongside Chock and Bates. Both teams work with the same coaches: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer. Chock said they were “blindsided” by Cizeron’s return to the sport and the training facility, as well as the new partnership.
“They told us I think the day before they came to officially start training, and it was a lot to digest at first,” Bates told NBC ahead of the Olympics.
Olympic gold for Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/fBHi3cjErQ
— Embassy of France in the U.S. (@franceintheus) February 12, 2026
Have there been any other issues with judging in ice dance?
Yes. Piper Gilles and Paul Porrier, the two-time reigning world runners-up who earned the bronze medal Wednesday, have openly questioned scoring inconsistencies throughout the season.
Gilles criticized the technical panel at the Grand Prix event in Finland in November, and she later posted to social media about her frustration with the judging at the Grand Prix Final the following month. She wrote that many in the sport were being “diminished and manipulated by people with agendas,” and tagged the International Skating Union.
Even Cizeron voiced his displeasure at the same Grand Prix event in Finland.
“Of course I’m angry,” Cizeron said in a news conference. “I see some strange games being played that are destroying ice dance. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a competition like this in my career, from a judging standpoint.”
There have of course been other famous instances in figure skating overall. Perhaps the most known case also featured a French judge.
During the 2002 Olympics, Russian pair skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the gold over Canada’s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. However, allegations of vote-swapping and selling against Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French judge, quickly emerged and resulted in an investigation by the ISU. She was found guilty and suspended. Sale and Pelletier were ultimately elevated to the gold.
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When the NASCAR Cup Series went to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 in 2025, Ross Chastain got into Victory Lane after closing at +1800 to be the outright winner.
Chastain’s impressive win came after leading only eight laps on the day.
Which driver will take the checkered flag when the series goes back to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend for one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewels?
Here are the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 24.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600
Denny Hamlin: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Tyler Reddick: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
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Ryan Blaney: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Chase Elliott: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Brad Keselowski: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
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Ross Chastain: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
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Alex Bowman: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Austin Dillon: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
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Here’s what to know about the oddsboard:
The Favorite
Denny Hamlin is coming in hot off an All-Star Race win at Dover. And while it wasn’t a points race, coming into Charlotte after starting from the pole and leading 103 laps in last week’s exhibition could give him the momentum he needs to grab the checkered flag at the Coke 600. His first and only win at this race came in 2022. In 2025, he started 20th but finished 16th after posting the best lap of the day at 29.37 and leading 53 laps.
One to Watch
Tyler Reddick is having an incredible season. He’s gotten into Victory Lane five times, including the first three races of the year. Cup qualifying got rained out, so Reddick will start from the pole today at Charlotte in accordance with league rules. On the season, Reddick has led 201 laps and has eight finishes in the top five. In 2025, he finished the Coca-Cola 600 26th after leading only one lap.
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WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella opens up about what she wants fans to remember her for when she retires
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One of the best things to debate amongst friends is where professional athletes of a particular sport rank all time. Some make top 10 lists, others go by the Mount Rushmore rule.
Pro wrestling fans are no different. Championships, legacy and impact on the sport matter to those who take the time to watch wrestling 3-6 times per week for decades. How pro wrestlers are remembered by their fans is important to them.
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Nikki Bella confronts Becky Lynch during Monday Night RAW at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Aug. 4, 2025. (Michael Marques/WWE)
For WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella, she suggested in an interview with Fox News Digital that her championship accolades should be put aside. Using her voice to have an effect on someone watching her in an arena or at home is more important.
“I would love definitely to be remembered as fearless, as someone who wasn’t scared to use her voice, someone who wasn’t scared to pave the ways, someone who wasn’t scared to stand up to all the hate, who can still be her even when people try to tear you down,” Bella said, who became the Chief Margarita Officer for Madam Paleta Tequila earlier in the week. “What I’ve realized, and this is in any industry and this is throughout time, it’s never easy to be first or be the loudest about something. And there’s so many people who helped pave the way before us but when you’re at the forefront or when you’re at the face of that, you take on everything that comes with it – hate, love, support, everything.
WWE STAR LIV MORGAN OPENS UP ABOUT HER LEGACY, WHAT SHE WANTS TO BE REMEMBERED FOR
Nikki Bella returns to Monday Night RAW at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Ariz., on June 9, 2025. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE)
“I think that’s where I truly live up to being ‘Fearless’ Nikki, I just don’t stop. Even when I’m not at my best or when I’m at my greatest. I hope at the end of the day, people can look back and respect that too – even the ones who can be so disrespectful. They see things in such a different way and they really just don’t know. I hope to be remembered as that over anything.”
Bella said she understood that fans will look at her titles and accolades overall when she eventually decides to step away from action for good.
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She was a two-time Divas champion, including holding the championship for a record 300 days, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with her sister, Brie Bella, in 2020.
She stressed, however, that the impact she made was held in high regard above everything else.
“I get some people get hooked on champion numbers, like 13 time, 10 time, five time, you know, for me, it’s always been about impact,” she told Fox News Digital. “And if the people tuning in, I was able to change some people’s lives. Maybe they were being raised in a not great home and I gave them the ability to be fearless and to use their voice to know they could be someone great one day, to me, that’s being a champion and that’s what I’d love to be more than anything. I look at my Bella Army and they are my true accomplishment.
Nikki Bella addresses the crowd during SmackDown at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 13, 2026. (Bradlee Rutledge/WWE)
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“That is better than any championship I could ever win, ever.”
SYDNEY: As Twenty20 cricket competitions explode around the world, Australia’s Big Bash League is struggling to chart a vision for the future, after plans to privatise its franchises stalled.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg is adamant that outside investment is necessary to shore up the game’s financial future and keep pace with a boom in other well-funded leagues played in a similar time slot.
They include the UAE’s ILT20, South Africa’s SA20, and New Zealand’s privately-backed NZ20 scheduled to start in December 2027, all bidding for the best local and overseas players.
“If those salary caps (of other leagues) are significantly higher than ours over the coming years, and players can earn more in those areas, then players will follow those. That’s a real risk to us,” Greenberg told local media.
“I want to make sure that for Australian cricket, our ambition is to have a league that runs at the key part of the year for us, which is the December-January window, and it’s the best T20 league in the world at that moment in time.
“To do that, we have to have a significant amount of money in our salary caps to attract not only the best players from overseas, but to retain and attract our own best players.”
He added: “The concept of bringing private capital to cricket is inevitable at some point.”
While not a direct competitor as it runs in a different window, the benchmark Indian Premier League has seen massive success thanks to wealthy benefactors, with England’s The Hundred also on a roll after an influx of private capital.
But it is a thorny issue in Australia with an initial proposal to sell stakes in each of BBL’s eight teams stalling last month amid concerns about a loss of control for the game’s local custodians.
While the Victorian, Western Australian and Tasmanian cricket associations voiced support and South Australia said it was open to the idea, New South Wales and Queensland rejected the move.
Queensland Cricket, which controls the Brisbane Heat, said it was worried about player payments skyrocketing to unsustainable levels, and that private owners may not be as invested in the grassroots game.
Cricket NSW, which operates the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder, was similarly concerned that it could be detrimental to how the sport is governed and how local players are produced.
‘Sugar hit’
There are also fears about an Indian takeover, with the most likely buyers seen as the rich IPL team owners who have invested in other short-form competitions around the globe.
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell is in the “No” camp, arguing that the BBL belongs to the states and communities that have built it into a successful and well-attended product.
While acknowledging the commercial realities, he said selling it off was not the answer.
“The moment you introduce private ownership at scale, you introduce a set of priorities that may not always align with the long-term health of the game,” he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Private investors, however well-intentioned, answer to shareholders, not to Australian cricket.”
Andrew Jones, a former head of strategy at Cricket Australia who was instrumental in the launch of the BBL, is similarly unconvinced.
“A one-off sale is a sugar hit, not a solution,” he said in The Australian newspaper, arguing that revenues can be better grown through sponsorships, wagering, ticketing, and more focus on commercialising the women’s game.
Despite scepticism, Greenberg remains confident and is now eyeing a hybrid ownership model.
This would allow the BBL franchises keen to sell stakes to do so while allowing those against to maintain complete ownership.
“If we end up not going together at the same time, can we still extract the same level of revenue, and can we extract the same level of value?” he said.
“I think we can, but I’ve got to do the work to satisfy a recommendation that would ultimately go to the members and our board.”
2026 NASCAR Odds: Denny Hamlin Favored At Coca-Cola 600, Tyler Reddick Second
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