The International Skating Union has defended the scoring in Olympic ice dance competition despite controversy surrounding a French judge's marks. Jezabel Dabouis's scoring heavily favored French pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron over American champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the free dance, creating a margin so large that removing her score would have given the Americans gold.

Dabouis has a history of questionable scoring for Beaudry and Cizeron, including at December's Grand Prix Final where she had the French team narrowly beating Chock and Bates despite their two deductions, including an egregious fall. The ISU maintains confidence in the scoring system, stating that variations between judges are normal and mechanisms exist to mitigate discrepancies. However, with the governing body unwilling to investigate, the U.S. team has little recourse.

This controversy echoes the 2002 Salt Lake Games judging scandal involving French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, which led to the ISU abandoning its 6.0 system for the current technical and component scoring approach. Critics argue the replacement system remains overly confusing and subjective, with over 10,000 people signing a Change.org petition demanding an investigation. As Chock noted, confusing results undermine fan confidence in the sport.