The ice dance gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, came down to a razor’s edge.
After two days of competition plus a team event over the weekend, the best ice dancing pairs in the world showed off what they had been working on for four years.
And after the dust settled, it was the French pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron that took home the gold medal after a back-and-forth contest with multi-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States.
While there’s a series of judges who score the competitors, it generally doesn’t come down to one person’s opinion over the course of two legs to decide the winner and loser.
That was not the case in Milan.
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Although there were differences in the judging between the French and American duos, a majority had them close together, with a few more believing Team USA edged out Beaudry and Cizeron.
One judge, however, firmly believed that the French pair was head and shoulders above Team USA during the opening rhythm dance portion and Wednesday’s free dance.
Who was the judge?
Well, surprisingly (or not), it was the judge representing France.
When it came to Chock and Bates, the French judge gave them their lowest score on Wednesday, the only evaluator to not give them a score over 130 in their free dance.
How did they treat the French duo? The best of the bunch, almost eight points higher than their American rivals for the gold medal.
They also gave the Canadian pair who won bronze their lowest score from any judge on the panel.
This did not sit well with fans online, who pinpointed various mistakes in the French routine that were overlooked by their home judge, who gave France the win.
While Team USA could ask for a review if they believe there was foul play, there has been no news on that front.
We will keep you updated if this story unfolds more in Milan.
