French ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron scored 2026 Winter Olympics gold, but their ongoing controversies hover over their win.
The duo, who partnered up in March 2025, followed up their first-place finish in the short program on Monday with a score of 225.82 in their free dance on Wednesday, Feb. 11. They finished just 1.42 ahead of Team USA’s top ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who took second with a score of 224.49. Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took third with a score of 217.74.
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were emotional, cheering and hugging each other in the kiss and cry after hearing they had narrowly snagged gold.
While the pair has been celebrated for their elegant performances, controversies connected to their past relationships have continued to follow them throughout the Olympics.
In Fournier Beaudry’s case, attention has centered on her boyfriend and former ice dance partner, Nikolaj Sørensen, who was suspended from the sport in 2024 after being accused of a 2012 sexual assault involving a former skater and coach. He has denied the allegations.
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Although his initial six-year suspension from Skate Canada was later overturned, Fournier Beaudry said in Netflix’s docuseries Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing that the situation effectively ended his career, as he was no longer actively competing or living as a Canadian citizen.
Cizeron, meanwhile, was recently accused of being “controlling, demanding and critical” by his longtime partner Gabriella Papadakis, with whom he won gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Papadakis made the claims in an interview last month ahead of the release of her memoir, So as Not to Disappear.
Papadakis wrote that she felt under Cizeron’s “control” and said she was “terrified” at the idea of being alone with him. Cizeron has called the accusations a “smear campaign” in a statement to Reuters and said he is pursuing legal action.
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“I want to express my incomprehension and disagreement with the labels attributed to me,” he said. “The book contains false information, including statements I never made, which I consider serious.”
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have said they hope to set the controversies aside during the Milan Games and focus on their skating.
“We started a new chapter a year ago,” Cizeron told reporters at the start of the Olympics. “Neither of us would have thought we’d be here today, so everything is like a bonus for us.”
