Team USA's Madison Chock, Evan Bates settle for silver in controversial ice dance final

A controversial winner

Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron crashed into these Olympics on a wave of controversy. Their partnership was driven by two separate allegations of mistreatment within the sport. Fournier-Beaudry stood by her partner and boyfriend, Canadian Nikolaj Sorensen, when he was banned for serious allegations of sexual assault against another skater. Cizeron, meanwhile, retired after the 2022 Olympics with a gold medal, but was later accused of controlling behavior by his former partner Papadakis. Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron joined together less than a year before the Olympics in a last-ditch attempt to save their careers and legacies.

Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron needed a big win to rewrite those stories, and they got it here at the Olympic Games. But serious questions must be asked about what, exactly, the sport is celebrating by crowning them as its champions. Ice dance is famously subjective and opaque; its judges have just as much sway in selecting its winners as its competitors do, and at these Games they selected the sport's most controversial (and least-experienced) duo. 

There's no getting around it: Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron are simply not the face of a healthy, thriving sport. The dark circumstances of their pairing make their win feel like a clear loss for the safety and security of the ice dance community as a whole. They are atop the Olympic podium while their accusers are struggling to be heard.

An uncertain future

Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron's win wasn't just controversial because of their history: it opened up serious questions about judging, coaching and relationship-building within the sport of ice dance.

20 duos entered this final Olympic free dance; of those 20, a whopping 11 (including gold medalists Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron and silver medalists Chock and Bates) belong to the influential Ice Academy of Montreal. That means more than half of the Olympic ice dance field split the same coaches, the same facilities and the same relationships with global judges throughout the 2025-26 season.

It's clear to see where this level of influence could go wrong. The Ice Academy of Montreal's consolidated power means that its chosen teams are incredibly likely to succeed—and often at the expense of their peers. Chock and Bates were the beneficiaries of this power for most of the Olympic cycle, but Fournier-Beaudry and Cizeron's late arrival to the competition changed everything for them.

There's a good chance we'll hear more about the Ice Academy of Montreal and how it positions its teams with global judges. Chock and Bates are set to retire at the end of this season; with an unexpected silver medal around their necks and very little to lose, they are unlikely to retire quietly.

The Olympic figure skating competition will continue on Friday, with the men's long program.