The husband-and-wife ice dancing duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates made the United States proud at the Winter Olympics this week, earning silver in ice dance and falling just 1.43 points short of gold behind France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
The judging sparked an uproar among U.S. Olympic fans, many of whom believed Chock and Bates delivered the strongest performance of the competition. However, one judge in particular saw it differently — and she just so happened to be French.
Five of the nine judges scored Chock and Bates higher than Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, but France’s Jezabel Dabois was the lone judge to keep the Americans under the 130-point mark while awarding the French duo a 137.45 — 7.71 points more than Chock and Bates.
More news: Taylor Swift Reacts to Breezy Johnson’s Surprise Engagement During Olympics
More news: What USA’s Chloe Kim Did Immediately After Falling Short of Gold Goes Viral
Still, with Chock at 33 and Bates at 36, the pair addressed ongoing speculation about whether this could mark the end of their Olympic journey. They stopped short of giving a definitive answer, leaving the door open for the future.
When asked if it was their last dance, Bates responded, “I’m not sure.”
“We’ve got a lot to be proud of and a lot to be grateful for because we’ve had an incredible career,” Chock added. “Sometimes that’s just how it shakes out. This is the story for us, and I wouldn’t change anything.”
“Immediately right now, it’s really hard to say what the career plans will be, but TBD,” Bates also said.
Chock and Bates, while acknowledging that the judging system may have been unfair, have remained professional throughout the entire process.
When asked about the scoring, Chock said they “put out our very best skates every time we took Olympic ice. All four performances we had here at the Olympics, we’re very proud of. They were flawless for us. We couldn’t have skated any better, and we’re super proud of how we took the ice, how we handled ourselves every time. The rest is out of our hands.”
More news: How Much Money Did Chloe Kim Miss Out on by Not Winning Gold at the Olympics?