USA Won't Appeal Figure Skating Results After Chock, Bates Scoring Controversy

After American figure skating duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates finished second to France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron in the ice dance at the 2026 Olympics, the United States said it won't appeal the controversial scoring decision.

"There has been a lot of thoughtful, and at times emotional, discussion about the ice dance competition in Milan," USFS CEO Matt Farrell said in a statement to USA Today. "Working together with Madi and Evan after the Games, we will have thoughtful and intentional discussions about the best way to support them and the future of the sport.

"For now, we plan to join them in supporting the success of U.S. Figure Skating in Milan."

Chock and Bates were widely considered to be the favorites coming into the event after winning three consecutive World Championships and Grand Prix finals from 2023 to 2025.

Controversy arose when the French judge scored Chock and Bates significantly lower in the free dance than Beaudry and Cizeron.

Chock said that the situation "does a disservice" to figure skating.

"Any time the public is confused by results, it does a disservice to our sport," Chock USA Today's Jordan Mendoza. "It's hard to retain fans when it's difficult to understand what is happening on the ice. I think there needs to be a lot more clarity for the skaters, for the coaches and for the audience, in order to just have a solid fan base moving forward. People need to understand what they're cheering for and be able to feel confident in the sport that they're supporting."

The International Skating Union backed the French judge, saying it's common to have a "range of scores" from judges.

"It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judge in any panel and a number of mechanism are used to mitigate these variations," the ISU said in a statement. The statement also noted it has "full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness."

While Chock and Bates still won gold in the team event, Chock told reporters that it's "bittersweet" to fall short of gold in what could be their final Olympic Games together.

"It's definitely a little bittersweet because we are so, so happy with how we performed this week," Chock said. "We really gave it our all, and I wouldn't change anything about how we approached each performance, what we delivered in each performance. We really gave it our best.

"And that's what we set out to do coming to these Games. So I think we've got a lot to be proud of and a lot to be grateful for because we've had an incredible career and we've been so well supported by our families and our coaches, by each other. And sometimes that's just how it shakes out. This is history for us and I wouldn't change anything."