Olympic ice dance: The controversy behind the gold-medal favorites

Controversially, though, they're a brand-new unit. They teamed up together earlier in the 2025-26 season and only have a few competitions under their belts.

Do ice dance teams start from scratch like that often?

Not at the highest level, no. Most top ice dance duos skate together for well over a decade before reaching the Olympics, and ice dance judges tend to judge new pairs harshly for their perceived lack of chemistry and trust. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron's situation is rare enough to be virtually unprecedented. 

So what happened here, then?

Fournier Beaudry spent years skating for Canada with her partner (and boyfriend) Nikolaj Sorensen, but the two were forced to split up in 2024 when Sorensen was banned from ice dance after being investigated for the sexual assault of another skater. Fournier Beaudry stood by him and maintained his innocence — they're still dating to this day — but was forced to find a new partner or stop skating altogether.

Cizeron, meanwhile, won the Olympic gold medal for France in 2022 while skating with his longtime partner Gabriella Papadakis. They retired after the 2022 games at the top of their sport, but Papadakis later published a memoir accusing Cizeron of controlling, belittling behavior during their victorious run.

As the 2025-26 season loomed, both Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron needed a PR Hail Mary, and they found it in each other. They switched Fournier Beaudry's citizenship and paired up just in time to enter the Olympics under the French flag.

How does the skating world feel about them?

Not great. They're reviled for both the circumstances of their pairing and for the wrench they've thrown into the sport's well-established competitive order.

For the judges, though, they've been a revelation. Any prejudices the ice dance judges had about new pairings flew out the window when Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron became one.

Who are they fighting for gold?

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron are in a dead heat for gold with Team USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates. They are, in many ways, polar opposites: They've been skating together for 15 years and four Olympic cycles, and they truly believe that these Games are theirs.

What are we in for if Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron win gold?

A lot of drama. Ice dance judging has always been unpredictable, but the way Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have been embraced by score-setters around the world — despite their newness and the obvious flaws that creates — has been erratic to the extreme. 

It's also just not a great look for the sport. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron's partnership arose from two separate allegations of female mistreatment in ice dance. It's tough to stomach the fact that they're gold-medal favorites while their reported victims are struggling to be heard.

When do they skate next?

The 2026 Olympic ice dance competition concludes on Wednesday, Feb. 11.