Madison Chock, Evan Bates’ Olympics 2026 Scoring Controversy

Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ path to an Olympics 2026 gold medal was supposed to be a smooth skate. 

At least, that’s the reputation the Team USA skating duo had established for themselves ahead of the Milano Cortina games. However, their shoo-in shot for the top of the winner’s podium was slightly interrupted Feb. 9, when the couple—who have won three consecutive world titles—scored behind French rivals Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron in the rhythm dance. 

For the opening segment dance, Chock and Bates skated to a Lenny Kravitz medley and scored an impressive, but surprisingly low 89.72, while their French counterparts earned a slightly better 90.18 for their skate to Madonna’s “Vogue.”

And while the United States pair entered the games as favorites, and had previously scored much better for the same routine, Chock said in a post-event interview, per NBC, “We were really happy with how we skated tonight.”

Meanwhile, Bates—with whom Chock tied the knot in 2024—argued they performed “even better” than in their team event, which landed them a score of 91.06.