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American figure skating pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the silver medal at the Milan Cortina 2026 Games, finishing with a total score of 224.39 after landing a score of 134.67 in their free dance on Wednesday evening.
Chock and Bates, the married couple who have been skating together for more than a decade, were beaten for gold by French duo Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, who scored 135.64 in the free dance for a total of 225.82.
It was the duo’s best score to date, and was needed to move ahead of Chock and Bates, the group that won the U.S. its 12th medal of the Games so far.
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Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States react as their scores earned them the silver medal after competing in the figure skating ice dance free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Finishing in third place for the bronze medal, an emotional Canadian duo, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, were delighted to see their final score of 217.74 after a result of 131.56 in the free dance, putting them on the podium.
A second American group of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, making their Olympic debut, finished fifth with a total of 206.72 points.
Chock and Bates were 0.46 points behind the French pair heading into Wednesday night’s free dance, and they were seeking their first Olympic medal in ice dancing with the hope that it would obviously be gold.
Their matador routine, dancing to a rendition of the famous Rolling Stones song, “Paint It, Black,” drew plenty of applause from the crowd, as they finished with tears in their eyes.
Chock and Bates won team gold twice after Team USA won Sunday, but they had to watch another routine to see if they could win gold when Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron took the ice.
After an equally brilliant exercise, the judges decided that the French duo had done enough to finally defeat the Americans.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France react to their gold medal scores after competing in the figure skating ice dance free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Stéphanie Scarbrough)
Cizeron won the ice dancing title at the 2022 Beijing Games, but it was with his former partner Gabriella Papadakis, with whom he also won five world titles.
Their breakup, however, was full of controversy, as Papadakis accused Cizeron of an “unbalanced” relationship, in which she felt “under his influence”, in her memoir. She also claimed he was “controlling” and “demanding.”
Cizeron called it a “smear campaign” as well as “false information”, while saying he would take legal action against his partner with whom he had been skating since they were children.
Meanwhile, Fournier Beaudry faced her own controversy last year, as she previously had a personal and professional relationship with Canadian skater Nikolaj Sorensen. Sorensen was hit with a six-year suspension after a 2012 sexual assault allegation, although it did not involve Fournier Beaudry, but rather an American skating coach.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States compete in the figure skating ice dance free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Fournier Beaudry obtained French citizenship last year in order to partner with Cizeron. They won four of their five major title events together, although their only second-place finish came from Chock and Bates in the International Skating Union Grand Prix Final.
But Olympic gold remains with France in this event after an exciting performance by all the couples at the Milan Cortina Games.
