French Ice Dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Perform at Olympics After Scoring Controversy

French ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron returned to Olympic ice for a final time, and for the first time since the controversy over the judge scoring that earned them gold.

Fournier Beaudry, 33, and Cizeron, 31, performed in the figure skating exhibition gala at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 21, skating to “Metamorphosis” by Mad Rush. The exhibition gala takes place at the end of every Olympics competition and typically involves the medalists from each event performing a more relaxed program, sans judging.

The duo were met with light applause as they performed a dreamy, romantic routine.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron won gold in ice dancing on Feb. 11, snagging the first place spot over Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates by just 1.42 points. But controversy soon swirled over their score — a 225.82, despite significant synchronization errors from Cizeron in his twizzles — and that they were still scored higher than Chock and Bates, who had a clean skate.

As the score breakdown came out, skating commentators noticed a clear shift in the scoring from the French judge, Jezabel Dabouis. She gave Chock and Bates a 129.74 for their free dance, the lowest score of all nine judges and more than five points lower than the average. Meanwhile, Dabouis gave Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron a 137.45, nearly three points higher than the average.

Chock and Bates were asked over the next few days if they would appeal the score, but U.S. Figure Skating decided against it. The U.S. duo said to reporters after that they felt they did everything they could with their skate, but admitted to feeling “disappointment” in an interview with PEOPLE a day after the final.

“I think there were a lot of emotions flooding through us yesterday. I think there was some disappointment for sure,” Chock said, before pausing to collect herself amid tears. “It’s been a long journey, but I certainly have a lot of pride for what we have accomplished, and who we’ve become on the way to those accomplishments. So in general, [we’re feeling] gratitude.”

Along with the on-ice drama, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron were the subject of off-ice controversy before the Olympics began. For Fournier Beaudy, the conversation has centered on her boyfriend and former ice dance partner, Nikolaj Sørensen, who was suspended from the sport in 2024 after he was accused of a 2012 sexual assault of a former skater and coach. He previously denied the allegations, and she has supported him publicly.

Cizeron, meanwhile, was accused of being “controlling, demanding and critical” by his longtime partner Gabriella Papadakis, with whom he won the gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, in an interview last month, ahead of the release of her memoir So as Not to Disappear.

The former skater wrote that she felt like she was under Cizeron’s “control” and that she was “terrified” at the idea of being alone with him. Cizeron has called her accusations a “smear campaign” in a statement to Reuters and said that he was pursuing legal action.