TL;DR

• Gay French Olympic ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron and partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold despite visible performance errors.
• Fans and analysts say the duo scored improbably high compared to a flawless American team.
• A French judge gave unusually low marks to the U.S. pair, sparking accusations of favoritism.
• The ISU defends the results, insisting the scoring system is fair.
• Past scandals involving both skaters have intensified scrutiny.

A Gold Medal — and Immediate Backlash

French superstar Guillaume Cizeron, one of the most celebrated openly gay athletes in Olympic history, returned to the ice in Milano Cortina with a new partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry. But instead of basking in adoring headlines, the pair is now skating through a storm of accusations that their victory wasn’t entirely earned.

Their free dance performance contained noticeable errors — especially during the infamously unforgiving twizzle sequences. Meanwhile, American duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates delivered what CNN Sports called a “nearly perfect” routine.

So how did Cizeron and Beaudry still win gold?

The final scores raised eyebrows worldwide:

• France: 225.82
• USA: 224.39

It wasn’t the margin — it was how they got there.

A French Judge Under Fire for Apparent Bias

Fans, analysts, and entire Reddit forums immediately clocked the outlier: the French judge gave Chock and Bates the lowest score of the entire panel — a whopping 5.20 points below the average of the other eight judges, per Forbes.

This wasn’t a subtle dip. This was the kind of cliff-dive that screams, “I brought my passport and my bias.”

The International Skating Union, naturally, insists everything is fine.
“It is normal for there to be a range of scores,” an ISU spokesperson told NBC, adding they have “full confidence” in the scores.

But the internet? Oh, she does not have full confidence in anything.

A Pair Already Surrounded by Drama

The controversy wasn’t born in a vacuum. Both skaters carry baggage:

• Cizeron’s former partner Gabriella Papadakis—with whom he won his 2022 gold—left the partnership and accused him of being “controlling, demanding, and critical.”
• Beaudry’s former skating partner and current boyfriend, Nikolaj Sorensen, was suspended for six years after sexual assault allegations came to light. His suspension was later overturned pending review, but his presence in the Olympic arena supporting Beaudry didn’t go unnoticed.

The combination of scoring irregularities and personal scandals created the perfect pressure cooker. Fans didn’t just question the gold — they questioned the system.

The ISU Stands Firm — But the Public Isn’t Buying It

The ISU says this is business as usual and that scoring variations are anticipated and mitigated through existing mechanisms.

But when the winning team makes clear errors and still edges out a cleaner skate — especially in a sport long plagued by judging scandals — the assurances feel thinner than an ice blade.

And for Cizeron, who became the first ice dancer in history to win back-to-back Olympic golds, the achievement is now overshadowed by suspicion instead of celebration.