Madison Chock and Evan Bates claimed a silver medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday following a stunning free dance routine, falling just 1.43 points behind Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, the controversial duo from France.
The Americans were 0.46 points behind Beaudry and Cizeron in the rhythm dance program on Monday. They performed Wednesday's free dance program to "Paint It Black" by Ramin Djawadi, scoring 134.67, and waited for the French's turn on the ice. Beaudry and Cizeron scored 135.64, edging out the married American couple by 0.94 points in the free dance.
Madison Chock and partner Evan Bates compete in the Ice Dance competition at the Winter Olympics at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 11, 2026.
Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
Chock and Bates have been skating together for 15 years. They got married in 2024.
In the team event, for which they helped Team USA win its second consecutive gold, Chock and Bates dominated the rhythm dance and the free dance in what is their fourth consecutive Winter Olympic Games together. While they have two golds together in the team event, Wednesday's silver is their first Olympic medal in ice dance.
Controversy behind French ice dance duo
French Gold medalists Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron after the victory ceremony in the figure skating ice dance final in the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Feb. 11, 2026.
WANG Zhao /AFP via Getty Images
Beaudry and Cizeron have been a pair for less than a year. Cizeron previously won gold in the ice dance event at the 2022 Winter Olympics with then partner Gabriella Papadakis.
Cizeron needed a new partner after Papadakis retired in 2024. She has since accused him of abusive behavior, alleging he was "controlling" and "demanding," CBS News partner BBC News reported. He countered that Papadakis had spread false information about him in a "smear campaign."
Beaudry was born in Montreal and has spent most of her career representing Canada, but she was granted French citizenship last November. She asked Cizeron to team up after her former partner, Nikolaj Sørensen, was suspended by Skate Canada after an American skater accused him of sexual assault.
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