Olympic Figure Skating Controversy: French Judges Slammed...

By Tyler ErzbergerShareNewsweek is a Trust Project member

It's been three days in Milan, and the Winter Olympic Games already have had their fill of melodrama, accusations, and plot twists.

From Lindsey Vonn competing and crashing with a torn ACL in downhill skiing to a Spanish figure skater starting an online movement to get his "Minions" song approved by DreamWorks Animation, it's been a hectic first few days in Italy.

And on Monday, there was even more chaos, as the opening of the ice dance competition sparked outrage online and in the stands over the judges' scores.

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Heading into the event, the top two pairs believed to be vying for gold were the United States of America's Madison Chock and Evan Bates, alongside France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.

Chock and Bates were already coming off winning gold medals on Sunday night in the team event when team ace Ilia Malinin anchored the squad and pulled through in the men's free skate program.

They entered the ice dance contest as favorites with three world championships under their belts, but they were bested in the rhythm dance portion of the competition by the European champions from France.

While the French pair had the highest cumulative score of the day, fans scrutinized the judges for missing points in their routine, which was clearly out of sync in some areas. It was a personal best score for the French duo.

At the other end, Chock and Bates were harshly judged, and some of their maneuvers were downgraded.

After the scores for the several officials were revealed, fans pointed out the obvious: the French judges gave the French pair the highest score on the panel. Almost two points higher than any other judge.

And to make it worse, they gave the USA duo their second-lowest score.

While a majority of the judges had the two ice dance teams neck-and-neck, the French judges had the European champions six points higher than the Americans.

Chock and Bates will have a chance to overcome the Beaudry and Cizeron on Wednesday, Feb 11, in the free dance section of the competition that will decide who wins gold in Milan.

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