Fans Accuse Olympics Figure Skating Judges Of Sabotaging Team USA With “Suspicious Scoring”

For many viewers, ice dancing is one of the most entertaining events at the Winter Olympics. But the opening of this year’s competition did not come without controversy.

The 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday (February 6) in Milan, Italy, and will run until February 22.

On Monday (February 9), several viewers expressed their disappointment over what they deemed an unfair score for the US ice dancing team.

Figure skating pair performing a routine at the Olympics amid fans accusing suspicious scoring by judges.

Team USA ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates finished in second place in the competition’s rhythm dance portion

Image credits: Sarah Stier/Getty Images

The two gold-medal favorite pairs were the United States’ Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.

While the French pair had the highest cumulative score of the day, several people scrutinized the judges for missing points in their routine, which was out of sync in some areas, as per Newsweek.

Viewers found it suspicious that the French judges awarded the French duo the highest score on the panel—almost two points higher than any other judge–while giving the USA skaters their second-lowest score.

Team USA figure skating athletes and coaches celebrating with American flags at the Olympics amid suspicious scoring claims.

Image credits: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

“I honestly don’t get what the ice dancing judges love with the French pair. That was just a lot of arm flailing in the rhythm dance,” one person fumed.

“If you’re just tuning to ice dance for the 1st time in 4 yrs, welcome! Find your fave but beware the trash judges,” read another comment.

“Judges overscoring the French ice dance team what else is new,” echoed a third viewer.

Figure skating pair performing at the Olympics, fans accuse judges of suspicious scoring against Team USA.

The Team USA skaters were defeated by Team France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron

Image credits: Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Screenshot of a forum comment discussing suspicious scoring by Olympics figure skating judges against Team USA.

Comment from jupiterrhapsody criticizing figure skating judges for rewarding mediocre skaters amid controversial scoring claims.

The French duo scored 90.18 points, their best ever, for their routine to Madonna’s Vogue. Meanwhile, triple world champions Chock and Bates’ rock-and-roll performance earned them 89.72 points.

The rhythm dance theme was “music, dance styles, and feelings of the 1990s.”

Figure skaters are scored based on connecting their footwork throughout their routines, but ice dancers are more like ballroom dancers and are evaluated on precision as well as the connection between the couple, Team USA’s Bates explained.

Figure skating pair performing a routine on ice as fans discuss suspicious scoring and judge controversies.

Image credits: Olympics

Ice dancing also has more restrictions compared to figure skating.

“We can only do lifts that are below the head, so I can’t raise my hands above my head, which is a really easy distinction when you’re trying to differentiate between pairs and ice dancing,” the Olympian told People in 2018.

Chock and Bates, who are also a couple off the ice, are competing at their fourth Olympics together. The married pair won a gold medal in the team event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Viewers protested that the French judges gave the French team the highest score on the panel

Olympics figure skating judges' suspicious scoring with Team USA trailing in official results leaderboard.

Image credits: Olympics

Comment from a fan accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring affecting Team USA’s placement.

Comment criticizing French judges for bias and suspicious scoring affecting Team USA in Olympics figure skating competition.

Screenshot of a social media post expressing anger about suspicious scoring in Olympics figure skating judging.

The ice dancers will have a chance to defeat Beaudry and Cizeron, the European champions, on Wednesday (February 11) in the free dance segment that will determine who takes home the gold medal.

“We’re not changing anything. We’ve got this locked in, locked in where we know ourselves, know our routine. And yeah, we’ve got this,” said Chock.

“Every time we step on the ice, we feel very grateful and happy to be able to do this together. It’s just bonus time doing a sport that we love,” expressed Team France’s Cizeron.

Olympic rings mounted on a building with snowy mountains in the background, symbolizing Olympics figure skating controversy.

Image credits: Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images

This is not the first setback encountered by Team USA at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn lost control a few seconds into her downhill run and had to be airlifted to a hospital on February 8.

The 41-year-old, who had suffered a serious ACL injury in January, underwent surgery to stabilize a fracture in her left leg following the accident.

“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash,” Vonn explained on Instagram.

The controversy comes after skier Lindsey Vonn’s horrific accident that required surgery

Female winter athlete in Team USA gear celebrating, highlighting figure skating judges and suspicious scoring debates.

Image credits: lindseyvonn/Instagram

The four-time World Cup champion stated that she has “no regrets.”

“Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.”

Smiling man in outdoor jacket, with fans accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring against Team USA.

Donald Trump called skier Hunter Hess a “loser” following his remarks about representing the US

Image credits: hunterhess10/Instagram

The games also took a political turn when Donald Trump called Team USA’s Hunter Hess a “real loser” after the Olympic skier declared that he had “mixed emotions” about representing his country.

Hess previously said during a press conference, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US. It’s a little hard; there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t.”

Vance booed during the Olympic opening ceremony pic.twitter.com/JCiQwjhKlh

— Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) February 6, 2026

Similarly, skier Chris Lillis mentioned ICE and said he felt “heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States.”

Vice President JD Vance and second lady, Usha Vance, were booed while attending the Olympics opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium.

Screenshot of a tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring against Team USA in ice dance.

“The scoring was quite strange,” one ice dance fan expressed, as others compared the two pairs’ performances

Image credits: onlineluvrgirl

Tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring favoring French team over Team USA at Winter Olympics.

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Screenshot of a tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring favoring the French over Team USA.

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Tweet criticizing suspicious scoring by Olympic figure skating judges, claiming Team USA was unfairly underscored in ice dance.

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Tweet criticizing Olympics figure skating judges for suspicious scoring, mentioning skaters Chock and Bates being robbed.

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Screenshot of a tweet questioning suspicious scoring by Olympics figure skating judges favoring the French team over Team USA.

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Tweet from a fan expressing frustration about suspicious scoring by Olympics figure skating judges affecting Team USA.

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Screenshot of a tweet expressing outrage over suspicious scoring by Olympics figure skating judges against Team USA.

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Tweet from fan accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring, claiming Team USA was underscored.

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Screenshot of a Twitter reply criticizing figure skating judges for suspicious scoring against Team USA at the Olympics.

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Tweet from Marilyn Allen Kearns reacting to suspicious scoring in Olympics figure skating, mentioning strange judging.

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Fan tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring in Team USA performance controversy.

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Tweet by user Pixelamb16 commenting on suspicious scoring in Olympics figure skating, mentioning the French pair’s scores.

Image credits: Pixelamb16

Tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of biased scoring underscoring American athletes during competition.

Image credits: ChiefTenaya

Tweet criticizing Olympics figure skating judges for suspicious scoring favoring the French pair in rhythm dance event.

Image credits: JZ7303

Screenshot of a tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring and overscoring the French ice dance team.

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Tweet criticizing Olympics figure skating judges for suspicious scoring and bias against Team USA ice dance performance.

Image credits: LadyMuted

Tweet accusing Olympics figure skating judges of suspicious scoring favoring France over Team USA in ice dance competition.

Image credits: JungleGsBills

Screenshot of a Twitter reply expressing refusal to watch judged events amid figure skating suspicious scoring controversy.

Image credits: B_and_B93

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