At first glance, U.S. figure skating stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates seemed to skate one of their best performances.
“Once again they are delivering,” commentator Andrea Joyce said during the ice dancing duo’s rhythm dance performance, the last skate of the night in the Milan Cortina Olympics.
“I have never seen them skate that determined … they were hungry tonight,” Olympian and commentator Johnny Weir said. “They’re not going to let anyone steal this medal without a fight.”
But a small downgrade that even the commentators couldn’t see meant the difference between first place and second place as they await their next shot in the free dance.
A mistake on their pattern step downgraded their skill from a Level 4 difficulty to a Level 3.
“Pretty impossible to be able to tell exactly what that step was,” Joyce said after the change was revealed.
The change was a small one, but Weir noted that “every eyelash counts.”
The downgrade meant Chock and Bates ended with a final score of 89.72. French ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron took first with a score of 90.18.
“I am surprised,” Olympian and host Scott Hamilton said. “I didn’t see that one coming.”
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada were third with 86.18 points in a tight race for third place.
Chock and Bates, a Michigan native, had helped the Americans defend their team gold medal barely 24 hours earlier — their second in that event. But after a fourth-place finish at the Beijing Games, it is the individual gold medal that they have long sought to win.
Chock and Bates, fresh off their record seventh U.S. title, entered the rhythm dance favored to win the individual ice dance event in the Winter Games. Now, they’ll enter the free dance final neck-and-neck with France.
Watch full coverage of the medal event below starting at 12 p.m. CST on 2/11:
var pymParent = new pym.Parent('olyLink5498', ' visuals.otsops.com/projects/milan-links-generator/visual-link.html?link= stream.nbcolympics.com/figure-skating-ice-dance-rhythm-dance&title=WATCH%20LIVE:%20Figure%20skating%20ice%20dancing%20rhythm%20dance&rand=5498&image= media.nbcchicago.com/2025/02/oly-ice-dancers-0212.jpg?impolicy=rect_medium_1024_576&quality=85&strip=all', {title: '', parenturlparam: '', parenturlvalue: ''});Beaudry and Cizeron arrived at the Winter Games facing a swirl of controversy linked to their former partners.
Beaudry, who previously skated for Canada, was left in limbo when Skate Canada banned her former partner, Nikolaj Sorensen, for a minimum of six years after allegations of “sexual maltreatment.” The suspension was overturned in June on jurisdictional grounds, but the case is still pending, and that left Beaudry in search of a new partner.
She found one in Cizeron, who had retired after 2022, when he won the Olympic gold medal with Gabriella Papadakis.
But in the last few weeks, Cizeron also has come under scrutiny. It stems from Papadakis’ new memoir, “So As Not To Disappear,” in which she accused her longtime partner of being demanding, controlling and emotionally manipulative.
Cizeron has called the allegations false, accusing Papadakis of engineering a “smear campaign.”
“We’re really creating a bubble between the two of us and our coaches,” Beaudry said, when asked of the distractions, “so when we are out there, it’s about the moment we spend together, and the memories that we’ll bring back from that moment.”
Beaudry and Cizeron certainly made some memories in their rhythm dance.
While their twizzles were still not perfect, the entirety of their program was far superior to the performance in the team competition earlier in the Winter Games. And when their 90-plus score was announced, Beaudry sat for a second in stunned silence.
“We really tried to skate as best as we could,” Cizeron said. “We had a great time and we’ll try to do the same for the free dance.”
Full figure skating schedule
Date/time (ET)EventStreamFriday, Feb. 6, 4-5:35 a.m.Team Event: Rhythm DancePeacock, NBCOlympics.comFriday, Feb. 6, 5:35-7:35 a.m.Team Event: Pairs Short ProgramPeacock, NBCOlympics.comFriday, Feb. 6, 7:35-8:55 a.m.Team Event: Women’s Short ProgramPeacock, NBCOlympics.comSaturday, Feb. 7, 1:45-3:15 p.m.Team Event: Men’s Short ProgramPeacock, NBCOlympics.comSaturday, Feb. 7, 4-5 p.m.Team Event: Free DancePeacock, NBCOlympics.comSunday, Feb. 8, 1:30-2:45 p.m.Team Event: Pairs Free SkatePeacock, NBCOlympics.comSunday, Feb. 8, 2:45-3:55 p.m.Team Event: Women’s Free SkatePeacock, NBCOlympics.comSunday, Feb. 8, 3:55-5 p.m.Team Event: Men’s Free SkatePeacock, NBCOlympics.comMonday, Feb. 9, 1:20-2:40 p.m.Rhythm Dance on USA:Groups 1 & 2 Peacock, NBCOlympics.comMonday, Feb. 9, 2:40-5 p.m.Rhythm Dance on NBC:Groups 3, 4 & 5Peacock, NBCOlympics.comTuesday, Feb. 10, 12:30-2:10 p.m.Men’s Short Program on USA:Groups 1 & 2Peacock, NBCOlympics.comTuesday, Feb. 10, 1:45-5 p.m.Men’s Short Program on NBC:Groups 3, 4 & 5Peacock, NBCOlympics.comWednesday, Feb. 11, 1:30-2:15 p.m.Free Dance on USA:Group 1Peacock, NBCOlympics.comWednesday, Feb. 11, 2:15-5 p.m.Free Dance on NBC: Groups 2, 3 & 4Peacock, NBCOlympics.comFriday, Feb. 13, 1-2:50 p.m.Men’s Free Skate on USA:Groups 1 & 2Peacock, NBCOlympics.comFriday, Feb. 13, 3-5 p.m.Men’s Free Skate on NBC:Groups 3 & 4Peacock, NBCOlympics.comSunday, Feb. 15, 1:45-3:10 p.m.Pairs Short on USA:Groups 1 &2Peacock, NBCOlympics.comSunday, Feb. 15, 3-5 p.m.Pairs Short on NBC:Groups 3, 4 & 5Peacock, NBCOlympics.comMonday, Feb. 16, 2-4:15 p.m.Pairs Free on USA:Groups 1 & 2Peacock, NBCOlympics.comMonday, Feb. 16, 3:55-5 p.m.Pairs Free on NBC:Groups 3 & 4Peacock, NBCOlympics.comTuesday, Feb. 17, 12:45-3:10 p.m.Women’s Short on USA:Groups 1 & 2Peacock, NBCOlympics.comTuesday, Feb. 17, 2:40-5 p.m.Women’s Short on NBC:Groups 3, 4 & 5Peacock, NBCOlympics.comThursday, Feb. 19, 1-5:10 p.m.Women’s Free Skate on NBCPeacock, NBCOlympics.comSaturday, Feb. 21, 2-4:30 p.m.Exhibition GalaPeacock, NBCOlympics.comHence then, the article about didn t see that one coming madison chock and evan bates unexpected score explained was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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