American Olympic medalist speaks out against judges amid controversy in figure skating competition

U.S. Olympic medal gymnast MyKayla Skinner spoke out against the judges who denied Madison Chock and Evan Bates gold in ice dance at the Winter Games this week. 

Chock and Bates finished second to French rivals Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron after a controversial score by a French judge on the final routine.

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Skinner, a former athlete whose accolades were also determined by judges, said she is "sick" in the aftermath of the decision.

"I’m sick of athletes not getting what they worked so hard for and judges cheating," Skinner told Fox News Digital.

"I have so much respect for every athlete who competed, because I know firsthand how much sacrifice goes into preparing for the Olympics," Skinner added. "But I do think there were performances from Team USA that deserved higher scores. When you dedicate your life to perfecting every detail, you expect judging to reflect that level of excellence.

"From my perspective as an Olympian, I saw routines that were clean, technically strong, and emotionally powerful. It’s hard not to feel like they were underscored. Our athletes showed gold-medal caliber performances, and I stand by that."

Skinner added that the controversy is personal for her due to her experience at the 2016 Rio Games. 

"This also hits close to home for me. At the 2016 Olympic Trials in gymnastics, I finished fourth in the all-around, and historically fourth and fifth place had been named to the team," she said. "That year, the selection process didn’t follow what many expected. I learned firsthand that sometimes things don’t always feel fair in judged sports. But that’s exactly why transparency and consistency matter so much! Athletes deserve clarity and confidence that their work will be evaluated evenly.

"I’m incredibly proud of Team USA. Regardless of the medal color, they represented our country with heart."

Skinner is not alone.

Former U.S. champion gymnast Jennifer Sey also condemned the scoring that vaulted Beaudry and Cizeron over Chock and Bates, suggesting judges must be subject to more accountability.

"There has been corruption in Olympic level judged sports forever. In gymnastics, boxing and figure skating. There needs to be more careful selection of judges to vet for susceptibility to corruption, and more transparency in how scores are derived. Beyond that, corrupt judges need to be punished with hefty fines to discourage this cheating in the future," Sey said.

Meanwhile, a Winter Olympian who missed out on qualifying for Milan Cortina due to controversial rules weighed in as well.

Five-time skeleton U.S. Olympian Katie Uhlaender, who lost the chance to earn qualification after Team Canada withdrew athletes at a qualifier to reduce the amount of points the contest could offer, expressed her fondness for her fellow Americans in Chock and Bates.

"I’m so proud of Evan and Madison. I know how hard they fought for Gold in 2022, a fight that took years beyond the podium. They represented the United States well and deserved a moment on the podium at the Games as the Olympic Champions they are," Uhlaender said.

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"I know nothing about judged sports. I know they deserved to be on top of the podium in 2022, and that they gave the world and the United States the best they had. Go USA and thank you to them both for representing us so well."

Chock and Bates were trailing the French couple by 0.46 of a point entering the free dance Wednesday night, and they were searching for their first ice dance Olympic medal with hopes that it would obviously be gold.

Their matador routine, dancing to a rendition of the Rolling Stones’ "Paint It, Black," drew cheers from the crowd, and they finished with tears in their eyes.

They finished with 224.39 after notching a 134.67 score in their free dance.

Chock and Bates are two-time team gold winners after Sunday’s Team USA victory, but they had to watch one more routine to see if they could capture gold when Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron took the ice.

But the judges decided the French duo did enough to defeat the Americans in the end.

Beaudry and Cizeron scored a 135.64 in the free dance for a total of 225.82.

The judging has become a globally-discussed topic in recent days, with some arguing that the French duo should have been graded more harshly.

Chock suggested that she and Bates will consider appealing the scoring, in an interview with Access Hollywood.

"I suppose we would consider it. I think skating is such a subjective sport, but I do think that for fairness it is good when the judges are reviewed for their work. Not just after this competition but every competition to just make sure there’s a fair and even playing field for all athletes," Chock said.

Bates has praised their supporters who are speaking out during the controversy.

"It means a lot that people are voicing their opinions on our behalf," Bates said. "The way that we skated and the way that we've approached chasing these goals hopefully has resonated with people at home even in our response. I think, hopefully, that too can reflect the Olympic spirit."

The International Skating Union (ISU) has since defended the scoring.

"It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judges in any panel and a number of mechanisms are used to mitigate these variations," the ISU said, adding it has "full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness."

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