00:00Yeah, I think we've been after this dream for so long.
00:04We've skated together for 15 years, and we felt like we were right there.
00:09We felt like we were so close.
00:10Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:12And today, we're breaking down this year's shocking losses,
00:16controversial victories, and messy behind-the-scenes drama
00:19that turned figure skating into an Olympic soap opera.
00:22I don't know if it's necessarily a story a lot of people are going to root for at first.
00:29At the Winter Olympics, few competitions are more dramatic than figure skating and ice dancing.
00:34It isn't just the performances themselves that are dramatic.
00:37Each skater has a narrative.
00:40Some that end in triumph and others in disappointment.
00:43Elia Malinan would experience both at his first Olympic Games.
00:47As a member of Team USA, Malinan would leave the 2026 Olympics a gold medalist.
00:52Yet, Malinan was expected to go home with an additional medal.
00:55The quad god, a nickname attributed to his famed quadruple jumps,
01:00was fresh off back-to-back world championships where he claimed gold.
01:04Malinan won several other prizes over the past two and a half years,
01:08during which time he stood virtually undefeated.
01:11Malinan was thus favored to win gold in the men's singles competition.
01:15I'm going to give this like 100%, and this is just, I will get it done.
01:19I will achieve it.
01:20Coming out on top of the short program,
01:22the rink was set for Malinan to seal the deal during the free skating segment.
01:26Spectators were in disbelief as Malinan made multiple mistakes throughout his performance,
01:31ranking 15th in the free skate.
01:33Malinan's combined score would leave him ranked 8th overall,
01:36while Mikhail Shydorov became Kazakhstan's first figure skater to take the gold.
01:41Malinan was a good sport amid this devastating loss, congratulating Shydorov.
01:45While Malinan fought back against the trolls who were hostile toward him online,
01:50he didn't tiptoe around his missteps on the ice.
01:53A nice day, just excited to get out there, and of course it didn't go the way I wanted it
01:57to.
01:58As confident as he seemed going in,
02:00the global stage of the Olympics introduced another layer of pressure,
02:03one that Malinan was, quote, not ready to handle.
02:06Yeah, honestly, it's not a pleasant feeling.
02:09The most honest way to say it is it's just a lot of on you,
02:13just so many eyes, so much attention.
02:15The New York Times described this as, quote,
02:17one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history.
02:20Although given Malinan's visible errors, nobody can say he was unfairly scored.
02:25The ice dance competition is another story.
02:28Once again, all eyes were on America to claim the gold.
02:32Madison Chalk and Evan Bates have been skating partners since 2011.
02:43Their partnership on the ice evolved into something even deeper,
02:46getting married in June 2024.
02:49It was the best day of my life.
02:52Well, I wish I could do it all over again.
02:54During that period, Bates and Chalk competed at the Olympics on three occasions.
02:58Both became gold medalists as part of their respective teams in 2022,
03:02but Bates and Chalk had yet to win as a duo.
03:12In 2014, they ranked eighth.
03:15In 2018, they fell to ninth.
03:17In 2022, they came in fourth, just barely missing bronze.
03:33With 2026 potentially being their last hurrah at the Olympics,
03:36this seemed like it might be Chalk and Bates' year.
03:39They were on the heels of three consecutive world championships,
03:42demonstrating their growth since the 2022 Olympics.
03:55At the 2026 Games, Chalk and Bates each added a gold medal to their mantle through the team event,
04:00with the ice dance competition following.
04:03While Chalk and Bates placed second in the rhythm dance section,
04:06they seemed undeniable after their matador-themed free dance set to paint it black.
04:10Topping themselves, Bates and Chalk appeared assured that they had the gold in the bag.
04:15Many spectators shared this sentiment,
04:17but when the scores were tallied, Bates and Chalk still only came in second,
04:21settling for silver overall.
04:23The gold went to the French duo Laurence Fournier-Baudry and Guillaume Cizeron,
04:28a victory that proved contentious for various reasons.
04:31Baudry and Cizeron only became partners on the ice in 2025.
04:35Both had recently come out of long-term partnerships that went up in flames.
04:39For almost a decade, Baudry skated with Canadian ice dancer Nikolai Sorensen.
04:44Baudry and Sorensen represented Canada at the 2022 Olympics, placing 9th.
04:49Not long after, news broke that Sorensen was under investigation for allegedly committing assault.
04:55Although Baudry and Sorensen withdrew from the 2024 Canadian Championships,
04:59they continued to skate in other competitions.
05:01While Sorensen claimed he was innocent,
05:04Skate Canada ultimately suspended him for no less than six years.
05:07If Baudry were to compete at the 2026 Olympics, she'd need a new partner.
05:12When they decided to suspend him, it meant that his career was over,
05:17which also meant that my career was over.
05:19Finding a new male partner is easier said than done,
05:22as there are generally more female ice dancers in the profession.
05:26As it turned out though, French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron was also looking for a new partner around this time.
05:31There is some sinister energy around the partnership.
05:37Knowing each other since childhood, Cizeron was paired with Gabriela Papadakis for two decades.
05:42In addition to breaking numerous world records, Cizeron and Papadakis achieved gold at the 2022 Olympics.
05:49And I think what was maintaining us together was having that common goal.
05:54As dynamic as they seemed on the ice, Papadakis painted a far more problematic partnership behind closed doors.
06:01Papadakis accused Cizeron of being controlling,
06:04claiming that he was critical of how she dressed and what her hair color was.
06:08He also allegedly didn't let her practice spins alone and pressured her to quit boxing.
06:12I mean, in the book, I mostly talked about my experience in that relationship.
06:19And that was a dynamic that was profoundly harmful and dangerous to me.
06:25Matters intensified leading up to the 2022 Olympics, but Papadakis held her frustration in.
06:31She claims this led to psychogenic non-epileptic seizures brought on by stress.
06:35When Cizeron reached out concerning the 2026 Games, Papadakis hesitated to respond.
06:41And it took me to really, really dangerous situations before I was able and forced to
06:48not only see it for what it was, but I had to leave.
06:52Papadakis didn't want to relive the alleged trauma she experienced at the 2022 Games,
06:57although her options were limited.
06:59It'd be difficult to find a new partner, and skating was her livelihood.
07:03As Papadakis remained torn, Cizeron decided for them.
07:07Their partnership was over, which was cemented on December 3rd, 2024.
07:12According to Papadakis, she didn't choose retirement.
07:15She was, quote, pushed out.
07:17Papadakis wrote about this experience in her 2026 memoir,
07:21So As Not To Disappear, which Cizeron took out a cease and desist against.
07:25Papadakis was unhappy that Cizeron and the ICE Academy of Montreal had supported Sorensen
07:31following his assault allegations.
07:33Papadakis herself is a survivor of assault.
07:35I.M. also allegedly pressured Papadakis to terminate a pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage.
07:41Papadakis has advocated for same-sex partnerships in ice dancing,
07:45citing an unfair dynamic with men generally possessing more power.
07:49We're talking a lot more now about same-sex skating, for example,
07:55which I think could resolve a lot of these issues.
07:58For those who agree with Papadakis, it was upsetting seeing Cizeron and Baudry win the gold.
08:03This wasn't just because of the allegations against Cizeron or the overdue narrative backing Chalk and Bates.
08:10It was because Cizeron and Baudry made noticeable mistakes during their rhythm and free dances,
08:15yet still came out on top in each section with an overall score of 225.82.
08:20Bates and Chalk got 224.39.
08:23And that's really been the talk on social media that they were scored unfairly and that it really should have
08:29been the Americans.
08:30Amid Chalk and Bates' loss, many pointed out that figure skating is subjective.
08:35Unlike some other Olympic sports, it isn't a matter of who's the fastest or who can throw the furthest distance.
08:41It boils down to the judges.
08:42That said, it's been widely argued that French judge GĂ©zabel Dabouy showed favoritism to Cizeron and Baudry.
08:49Meanwhile, Dabouy gave the American duo a lower score compared to their average among the other judges.
08:55This ignited a petition on change.org to, quote,
08:58investigate the judges awarding France the gold, gaining over 20,000 signatures and counting.
09:03The United States Figure Skating had 24 hours to appeal the results, which ultimately didn't happen.
09:09The International Skating Union stands by the outcome, saying, quote,
09:13It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judges.
09:17We did what we set out to do, which was to have our best skates of our seasons, of our
09:22careers,
09:23in the moment that it mattered.
09:25And we did that four times and I think there's nothing more we could have done.
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09:48This is not the first time that judging in Olympic pair skating has come under scrutiny.
09:52In 2002, Marie-Ren Lagune, another French judge, was implicated in a reported scoring conspiracy.
09:58And then a French CBC commentator waved at me and his words were, it's the French judge, it's the French
10:06judge.
10:07This year's outcome might not reach the same levels of controversy as Skategate, as the media dubbed it in 2002.
10:13Yet many have echoed Madison Chalk's comment amid her loss.
10:17Quote, judges should be vetted.
10:19I think skating is such a subjective sport, but I do think that for fairness, it is good when the
10:27judges are reviewed for their work.
10:29Not just after this competition, but every competition to just make sure that there's a fair and even playing field
10:35for all athletes.
10:372026 is also far from the first year where presumed frontrunners have come up short.
10:41Or a cloud of accusations has loomed over the games.
10:44It feels as if the status quo is frozen in time.
10:47Whatever the future holds for the 2030 Winter Olympics, one constant will remain.
10:53There will be drama on and off the ice.
10:56I remember just standing there, looking out at the panel of the judges that were still sitting there for the
11:01medal ceremony going, how dare you?
11:04Which moment from the 2026 Olympics shocked you the most?
11:07Let us know in the comments.
11:08Let us know in the comments.
11:09Let us know in the comments.
11:09We do not know in the comments.
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