American ice skaters who lost to duo overshadowed by dark allegations hit back after result
US skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates said judges needed to be 'vetted and reviewed'
American ice skating duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates have spoken out after placing second in a controversial Olympics final event.
On Wednesday (11 February), the Team USA couple were awarded a silver medal for their performance in the ice dance category at the Winter Olympics, placing second behind French skaters Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
The decision to award Beaudry and Cizeron the gold medal over Chock and Bates - the French duo received a final score of 225.82 while the US pair were awarded 224.39 - has been met with intense backlash online, following allegations of abuse and assault which hang over the French pairing.
Prior to partnering with Cizeron last year, Beaudry had skated with her boyfriend Nikolaj Sørensen since childhood. However, Danish-Canadian athlete Sørensen was accused of sexual assault in 2012, leading to his temporary suspension from the sport.
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Meanwhile Cizeron was accused of 'controlling' behaviour by former skating partner Gabriella Papadakis, allegations which he was since called a 'smear campaign'.
There has also been backlash regarding the scores given to each team, which the US skaters have addressed in an interview with CBS News, saying that more 'transparent judging' is needed going forward.
"I think it would definitely be helpful if it's more understandable for the viewers to see more transparent judging and understand what's really going on," Chock said.
"I think it's also important for the skaters, that the judges be vetted and reviewed to make sure that they are also putting out their best performance.
"Because there's a lot on the line for the skaters when they're out there giving it their all, and we deserve to have the judges also giving us their all and for it to be a fair and even playing field."
The backlash towards Beaudry and Cizeron's final scores came after the French duo had visible mistakes in the twizzle sequences of both their Rhythm and Free Dances, yet still scored higher than Chock and Bates.
This result led to an outpouring of support for the US skaters, with teammate Ellie Kam branding the couple 'true champions' on social media.
Meanwhile a Change.org petition has since been launched in response to the scores, calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Skating Union (ISU) to investigate the scoring, suggesting the 'credibility of the Games is at stake'.
The petition has since garnered over 14,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Has there been a response from the IOC and ISU?
Following the complaints online, the ISU issued a statement saying they had 'full confidence' in the fairness of the scores awarded by the judging panel.
"It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judge in any panel and a number of mechanism are used to mitigate these variations," read the statement, obtained via ESPN.
"The ISU has full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness."
LADbible has reached out to the IOC and ISU for further comment.
Topics: Winter Olympics, Olympics
Brenna Cooper