Figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics – Ice dance

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee suspended the Olympic Committees of Russia and Belarus. The skating federations of Russia and Belarus were each permitted to nominate one skater or team from each discipline to participate at the Skate to Milano as a means to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes. Each nominee was required to pass a special screening process to assess whether they had displayed any active support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine or had any contractual links to the Russian or Belarusian military.^[1] No ice dance teams from either Russia or Belarus competed at the 2026 Winter Olympics.^[2]

The ice dance competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics was held on 9 and 11 February at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy.^[3] Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States entered the competition as the presumptive favorites. They had won gold in the team event, which had ended just one day before the ice dance competition began, having performed both the rhythm dance and free dance. Chock and Bates were three-time world champions, seven-time U.S. national champions, and held world records in ice dance.^[4] Their strongest competitors were expected to be Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France.^[5] Cizeron had competed for years with Gabriella Papadakis, winning five World Championship titles and gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics before they ended their partnership in December 2024.^[6] Fournier Beaudry had competed for Canada with Nikolaj Sørensen before Sørensen received a six-year suspension from competitive skating in October 2024. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron had announced their new partnership in March 2025 with a stated goal of competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.^[7] Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron had most recently won the 2026 European Figure Skating Championships.^[8]

Eighteen quota spots in the ice dance event were awarded based on the results at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships.^[9] An additional four spots were awarded at the Skate to Milano.^[2] Finland had originally qualified for two quota spots in the ice dance event at the 2025 World Championships. However, when Yuka Orihara was unable to obtain Finnish citizenship, Finland ultimately relinquished their second quota spot.^[10] As a result, the spot was reallocated to Sweden; Milla Ruud Reitan and Nikolaj Majorov became the first Swedish ice dance team to qualify for the Winter Olympics.^[11]

More information Event, Teams per NOC ...

Quota spots in ice dance^[9][2]

Event	Teams per NOC	Qualifying NOCs	Total
2025 World Championships	3	Canada  United States	18
	2	Czech Republic  Finland  France  Great Britain
	1	Finland  Italy  Spain  Georgia  Germany  South Korea
Skate to Milano	1	Lithuania  Australia  Spain  China	5
Skate to Milano – Reallocation		Sweden
Total			23

Close

Couples in ice dance performed their rhythm dances on 9 February.^[3] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 50 seconds,^[12] the theme of the rhythm dance this season was "music, dance styles, and feeling of the 1990s".^[13] Examples of applicable dance styles and music included pop, Latin, house, techno, hip-hop, and grunge. The rhythm dance had to include the following elements: one pattern dance step sequence, one choreographic rhythm sequence, one dance lift, one set of sequential twizzles, and one step sequence.^[13]

The twenty highest-scoring teams performed their free dances on 11 February.^[3] The free dance could last no longer than 4 minutes,^[12] and had to include the following: three dance lifts, one dance spin, one set of synchronized twizzles, one step sequence in hold, one step sequence while on one skate and not touching, and three choreographic elements.^[13]

Skaters were judged according to the required technical elements of their program (such as choreographic elements), as well as the overall presentation of their program, based on three program components (skating skills, presentation, and composition). Each technical element in a figure skating performance was assigned a predetermined base point value and scored by a panel of nine judges on a scale from −5 to +5 based on the quality of its execution.^[14] Each Grade of Execution (GOE) from –5 to +5 was assigned a value as indicated on the Scale of Values.^[15] For example, a curve lift (level 4) was worth a base value of 5.45 points, and a GOE of +3 was worth 1.44 points, so a curve lift (level 4) with a GOE of +3 earned 6.89 points.^[16] The judging panel's GOE for each element was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (the average after discarding the highest and lowest scores). The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a Total Elements Score.^[17] At the same time, the judges evaluated each performance based on the five aforementioned program components and assigned each a score from 0.25 to 10 in 0.25-point increments.^[18] The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the chart below; the results were added together to generate a total Program Component Score.^[19]

Deductions were applied for certain violations, such as time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls.^[21] The Total Elements Score and Program Component Score were then added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each team.^[22]

From left to right: The gold, silver, and bronze medalists from the ice dance event at the 2026 Winter Olympics: Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France (gold), Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States (silver), and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada (bronze)

Code key

Rhythm dance

The rhythm dance was held on 9 February. Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States finished in second place, behind Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France. Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron set a new personal best score in the rhythm dance, a score which was seen by some as controversial, as they were notably out of sync during their twizzle sequence. Chock and Bates, on the other hand, received a downgrade on their pattern dance step sequence, leaving them in second place. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada finished in third place.^[23]

More information Pl., Team ...

Rhythm dance results^[24]

Pl.	Team	Nation	TSS	TES	PCS	CO	PR	SS
1	Laurence Fournier Beaudry Guillaume Cizeron	France	90.18	51.94	38.24	9.64	9.54	9.57
2	Madison Chock Evan Bates	United States	89.72	51.54	38.18	9.64	9.64	9.43
3	Piper Gilles Paul Poirier	Canada	86.18	49.41	36.77	9.21	9.29	9.14
4	Lilah Fear Lewis Gibson	Great Britain	85.47	49.03	36.44	9.14	9.29	8.96
5	Charlène Guignard Marco Fabbri	Italy	84.28	47.83	36.45	9.11	9.18	9.11
6	Emilea Zingas Vadym Kolesnik	United States	83.53	48.27	35.26	8.79	8.93	8.79
7	Allison Reed Saulius Ambrulevičius	Lithuania	82.95	47.86	35.09	8.82	8.89	8.68
8	Evgeniia Lopareva Geoffrey Brissaud	France	82.25	46.83	35.42	8.86	8.89	8.89
9	Marjorie Lajoie Zachary Lagha	Canada	79.66	45.41	34.25	8.64	8.61	8.50
10	Olivia Smart Tim Dieck	Spain	78.53	44.52	34.01	8.54	8.57	8.46
11	Christina Carreira Anthony Ponomarenko	United States	78.15	44.34	33.81	8.50	8.46	8.46
12	Juulia Turkkila Matthias Versluis	Finland	77.96	44.38	33.58	8.39	8.43	8.43
13	Diana Davis Gleb Smolkin	Georgia	77.15	43.23	33.92	8.57	8.54	8.39
14	Natálie Taschlerová Filip Taschler	Czech Republic	75.33	43.07	32.26	8.04	8.18	8.04
15	Marie-Jade Lauriault Romain Le Gac	Canada	74.35	42.38	31.97	8.11	8.07	7.86
16	Phebe Bekker James Hernandez	Great Britain	72.46	41.63	30.83	7.75	7.79	7.64
17	Kateřina Mrázková Daniel Mrázek	Czech Republic	72.09	40.50	31.59	7.96	7.93	7.86
18	Holly Harris Jason Chan	Australia	67.75	37.78	29.97	7.57	7.50	7.46
19	Milla Ruud Reitan Nikolaj Majorov	Sweden	67.31	37.71	29.60	7.50	7.46	7.29
20	Sofía Val Asaf Kazimov	Spain	64.98	35.87	29.11	7.39	7.25	7.25
21	Wang Shiyue Liu Xinyu	China	64.76	36.36	28.40	7.14	7.14	7.07
22	Hannah Lim Ye Quan	South Korea	64.69	34.28	30.41	7.75	7.57	7.54
23	Jennifer Janse van Rensburg Benjamin Steffan	Germany	63.67	33.66	30.01	7.68	7.43	7.46

Close

Free dance

The free dance was held on 11 February. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France emerged victorious, having taken the lead over Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States by a small margin after the rhythm dance. When asked about preparing for the Olympics, Cizeron stated: "It's been quite the challenge ... From the beginning we have tried to create a bubble and support each other. We think the love we have for each other and for the sport has drawn us through, kept our heads on our shoulders. Now we are enjoying those moments, we don't want them taken away from us."^[8]

Chock and Bates set a new season-best score in their free dance: a matador-themed routine featuring flamenco and paso doble elements set to "Paint It Black", with Chock as the matador and Bates as the bull. "It's definitely a little bittersweet because we are so, so happy with how we performed this week," Chock stated afterward. "We really gave it our all, and I wouldn't change anything about how we approached each performance, what we delivered in each performance. We really gave it our best."^[25] Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada finished in third place. "Our main focus for this Olympic Games was to create a moment for ourselves and to not focus on anything else," Gilles said. "And I think we truly created the moment that we wanted to and really let the judging be the judging and that's all we can do, but I'm really proud of what we did and how we represented ourselves."^[25]

More information Pl., Team ...

Free dance results^[26]

Pl.	Team	Nation	TSS	TES	PCS	CO	PR	SS
1	Laurence Fournier Beaudry Guillaume Cizeron	France	135.64	77.06	58.58	9.79	9.82	9.68
2	Madison Chock Evan Bates	United States	134.67	76.75	57.92	9.64	9.82	9.50
3	Piper Gilles Paul Poirier	Canada	131.56	75.00	56.56	9.46	9.46	9.36
4	Charlène Guignard Marco Fabbri	Italy	125.30	69.96	55.34	9.21	9.32	9.14
5	Emilea Zingas Vadym Kolesnik	United States	123.19	69.25	53.94	9.00	9.11	8.86
6	Olivia Smart Tim Dieck	Spain	122.96	69.18	53.78	9.07	9.11	8.71
7	Allison Reed Saulius Ambrulevičius	Lithuania	121.71	68.93	52.78	8.79	8.89	8.71
8	Evgeniia Lopareva Geoffrey Brissaud	France	121.43	68.41	53.02	8.79	8.79	8.93
9	Marjorie Lajoie Zachary Lagha	Canada	120.14	67.50	52.64	8.86	8.75	8.71
10	Christina Carreira Anthony Ponomarenko	United States	119.47	67.33	52.14	8.68	8.75	8.64
11	Diana Davis Gleb Smolkin	Georgia	118.87	66.93	51.94	8.68	8.68	8.61
12	Lilah Fear Lewis Gibson	Great Britain	118.85	65.15	53.70	9.07	9.07	8.71
13	Juulia Turkkila Matthias Versluis	Finland	118.07	66.57	52.50	8.86	8.75	8.64
14	Marie-Jade Lauriault Romain Le Gac	Canada	112.83	63.89	48.94	8.25	8.29	7.93
15	Natálie Taschlerová Filip Taschler	Czech Republic	109.67	60.39	49.28	8.18	8.25	8.21
16	Kateřina Mrázková Daniel Mrázek	Czech Republic	109.35	60.99	48.36	8.00	8.07	8.11
17	Holly Harris Jason Chan	Australia	108.64	62.14	46.50	7.82	7.79	7.64
18	Phebe Bekker James Hernandez	Great Britain	106.99	59.99	47.00	7.96	7.86	7.68
19	Sofía Val Asaf Kazimov	Spain	100.25	56.83	43.42	7.32	7.25	7.14
20	Milla Ruud Reitan Nikolaj Majorov	Sweden	97.74	53.52	44.22	7.36	7.39	7.36

Close

Overall

More information Rank, Team ...

Ice dance results^[27]

Rank	Team	Nation	Total	RD		FD
	Laurence Fournier Beaudry Guillaume Cizeron	France	225.82	1	90.18	1	135.64
	Madison Chock Evan Bates	United States	224.39	2	89.72	2	134.67
	Piper Gilles Paul Poirier	Canada	217.74	3	86.18	3	131.56
4	Charlène Guignard Marco Fabbri	Italy	209.58	5	84.28	4	125.30
5	Emilea Zingas Vadym Kolesnik	United States	206.72	6	83.53	5	123.19
6	Allison Reed Saulius Ambrulevičius	Lithuania	204.66	7	82.95	7	121.71
7	Lilah Fear Lewis Gibson	Great Britain	204.32	4	85.47	12	118.85
8	Evgeniia Lopareva Geoffrey Brissaud	France	203.68	8	82.25	8	121.43
9	Olivia Smart Tim Dieck	Spain	201.49	10	78.53	6	122.96
10	Marjorie Lajoie Zachary Lagha	Canada	199.80	9	79.66	9	120.14
11	Christina Carreira Anthony Ponomarenko	United States	197.62	11	78.15	10	119.47
12	Juulia Turkkila Matthias Versluis	Finland	196.03	12	77.96	13	118.07
13	Diana Davis Gleb Smolkin	Georgia	196.02	13	77.15	11	118.87
14	Marie-Jade Lauriault Romain Le Gac	Canada	187.18	15	74.35	14	112.83
15	Natálie Taschlerová Filip Taschler	Czech Republic	185.00	14	75.33	15	109.67
16	Kateřina Mrázková Daniel Mrázek	Czech Republic	181.44	17	72.09	16	109.35
17	Phebe Bekker James Hernandez	Great Britain	179.45	16	72.46	18	106.99
18	Holly Harris Jason Chan	Australia	176.39	18	67.75	17	108.64
19	Sofía Val Asaf Kazimov	Spain	165.23	20	64.98	19	100.25
20	Milla Ruud Reitan Nikolaj Majorov	Sweden	165.05	19	67.31	20	97.74
21	Wang Shiyue Liu Xinyu	China	64.76	21	64.76	Did not advance to free dance
22	Hannah Lim Ye Quan	South Korea	64.69	22	64.69
23	Jennifer Janse van Rensburg Benjamin Steffan	Germany	63.67	23	63.67

Close

The results of the ice dance event sparked backlash, with media outlets questioning how Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France won despite notable errors with their twizzle sequences in both their rhythm dance and free dance. Controversy arose when an examination of the judges' results revealed discrepancies. The French judge, Jézabel Dabouis, had given Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States a total score of 129.74 in the free dance, which was not only the lowest score awarded by the nine judges, but also over 5.20 points lower than the average score of the remaining eight judges. At the same time, Dabouis had awarded Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron a total score of 137.45, which was the second-highest score awarded by the judges and also almost three points above the average score of the remaining judges. While the Finnish judge had also awarded Chock and Bates a relatively low score, that judge's scores were relatively consistent amongst all of the couples.^[28] A spokesperson from the International Skating Union (ISU) responded to the outcry: "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 has full confidence in the scores given and remains completely committed to fairness."^[29]

On 15 January 2026, Gabriella Papadakis released her memoir, So as Not to Disappear (French: Pour Ne Pas Disparaître), in which, among other things, she alleged a history of controlling and abusive behavior on the part of Guillaume Cizeron. Cizeron responded by issuing a cease-and-desist that led to Papadakis losing her job as an ice dance commentator for NBC. Additionally, Netflix released a docuseries, Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing, just prior to the Olympics; Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were one of the couples featured. While the documentary did not address the details of Cizeron's split from Papadakis, it did address Fournier Beaudry's split from Nikolaj Sørensen and the details of his suspension.^[30] Fournier Beaudry has continued to support Sørensen, with whom she has been in a long-term relationship. The woman who had accused Sørensen of sexual assault made a statement to The Canadian Press: "The comments of the reigning Olympic champion [Cizeron] and a team in contention for the upcoming Olympic title carry weight, and using their voices to publicly undermine a survivor's truths further enforces the culture of silence in figure skating."^[31]

Christine Brennan, a sports columnist for USA Today, wrote about the results: "What an awful message the sport of figure skating just sent to sexual abuse survivors and victims, and parents who want their children to participate in a safe sport."^[32] Although Sørensen's suspension had been overturned on procedural grounds, he remained under investigation and was present in the arena on 11 February, where Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were observed waving to him and he was seen whistling back.^[32]