2026 Olympics Team Event: Free Dance

[readernick]

Yeah I understand all that but what I don’t get is why Piper and Paul are then not scoring similar to C/B? They def have complicated choreo and seem to get dinged when they are not fast but if C/B have a slow day they still get really high scores. Their RD twizzles yesterday were slooow but they still got crazy GOE. I felt like I understood the judging better the last 3 years but this Olympic year I don’t understand what the judges are doing because the rules don’t seem to be applied consistently across events or teams apart from C/B. If C/B was a Russian team and being treated this way, people on this forum would be going nuts about it.

And I say this as someone who likes C/B and likes their FD. They have a lot strengths but speed doesn’t seem to be one of them so far this year and that should be reflected in their scores if they have a slow day.

Many people complain about C/B all the time. They are hardly exempt. Just check any social media and you will see the hate. I defend them on these forums not because they are my favorites ( They aren't) but because the overwhelming opinion just isn't balanced.

I'm not sure P/ P RD this year is as complicated as what they have done in the past. It's a bit simplistic in places but they might have chosen that route because they weren't rewarded for their previous more complicated material. Their FD is still complicated and I would give them higher scores but I'm not a judge. Personally, I think C/ B do have very clean edges ( left over from performing pattern dances) and their primary advantage is Madison. She's just a better performer than anyone else and she's probably the best pure "dancer" in the field. Additionally, they have more impressive lifts. ( Although Marco is no slouch as a lifter either) Charlene and Piper both occasionally have stiff postures and don't hit the same beautiful positions. C/ B have also just chosen material better and, generally, know how to hit when it counts. I think that's why they are the chosen ones. I don't think they are 10 points better than the Canadians or the Italians but Ice Dance judging is always iffy. All of them certainly are very very good ice dancers.

 

[TontoK]

Many people complain about C/B all the time. They are hardly exempt. Just check any mass media and you will see the hate. I defend them on these forums not because they are my favorites ( They aren't) but because the overwhelming opinion just isn't balanced.

This is my situation exactly. I don't love them like I did Davis and White and Virtue and Moir. They just don't grab me in the same way. But I am also beyond tired of the backhanded treatment they get from some quarters.

They've dedicated their lives to this sport. Success has taken a long time. It happens that way sometimes. But through the years, they've worked hard to improve their craft. They've never been involved in any tabloid-esque drama, they're not tainted by any cheating or drug scandal, they haven't switched passports like they're changing their socks. They are the definition of steadiness and class.

They've delivered interesting and varied programs year after year. They've been upstanding representatives of their federation and the ISU. They've consistently answered the call when needed by USFSA - nobody had the least concern that they'd skate both programs while being vocally bothered about others facing the same prospect. They've helped the ISU when tasked, proudly contributing to WTT with as much dignity as a rainbow clown wig will allow, and they've done it without complaint.

As near as I can tell, they are respected and liked by their teammates and international competitors. They present themselves always as professionals.

And if you prefer another team, that's fair. I enjoy skaters from all over, and sometimes my personal preferences don't align with the judges. So, I get it. But 8 of 9 ranked them first in the RD, and all nine ranked them first in the FD by a wide margin, and not an American judge in sight. And maybe you don't think that's fair, but Chock and Bates did not score themselves, so they don't deserve any side eyes or these snippy little comments. So, I'd be very grateful if we could move from the "they can't skate" bullhockey and the attempted death of a thousand cuts, and simply state you prefer another team.

 

[labgoat]

According to AI
Speed in ice dance is important, but it is not the primary focus; instead, the emphasis is on precision, timing, and the interpretation of music. Ice dancers are judged on their footwork and the quality of their movements rather than just their speed.

I’ve heard Jean-Luc say similarly that speed is not as important as precision and interpretation

In other words it is not how fast you can play the minute waltz, but well you play it

 

[Janice4th]

This is my situation exactly. I don't love them like I did Davis and White and Virtue and Moir. They just don't grab me in the same way. But I am also beyond tired of the backhanded treatment they get from some quarters.

They've dedicated their lives to this sport. Success has taken a long time. It happens that way sometimes. But through the years, they've worked hard to improve their craft. They've never been involved in any tabloid-esque drama, they're not tainted by any cheating or drug scandal, they haven't switched passports like they're changing their socks. They are the definition of steadiness and class.

They've delivered interesting and varied programs year after year. They've been upstanding representatives of their federation and the ISU. They've consistently answered the call when needed by USFSA - nobody had the least concern that they'd skate both programs while being vocally bothered about others facing the same prospect. They've helped the ISU when tasked, proudly contributing to WTT with as much dignity as a rainbow clown wig will allow, and they've done it without complaint.

As near as I can tell, they are respected and liked by their teammates and international competitors. They present themselves always as professionals.

And if you prefer another team, that's fair. I enjoy skaters from all over, and sometimes my personal preferences don't align with the judges. So, I get it. But 8 of 9 ranked them first in the RD, and all nine ranked them first in the FD by a wide margin, and not an American judge in sight. And maybe you don't think that's fair, but Chock and Bates did not score themselves, so they don't deserve any side eyes or these snippy little comments. So, I'd be very grateful if we could move from the "they can't skate" bullhockey and the attempted death of a thousand cuts, and simply state you prefer another team.

Thank you for this. I enjoy many teams. I don’t have a particular favorite, but I really like Chock and Bates Free Dance.

 

[Skater Boy]

Really not trying to be that person, because I did follow the Candian Skating thread for the season, and after watching all your skating entries I fully agree- but if we had a two-time Olympic Champion recently releasing a thesis on this exact topic, Olympic Champions from decades ago even saying that the judging system cant be carried on like it is right now in the future and the ISU still does nothing... then these judging schemes are a feature, not a bug.

I think USA and Japan are the two elite overall teams here. I think on paper Italy and Georgia looks lie the battle for bronze. But from what I have seen the Canadians are undermarked and "under" placed. Canada should have at l east a point or two more which is significant because it means a team loses a point too. Too be fair these may not be Psquared's best programs BUT compared to Fear and Gibson and the Italians they clearly are better. The RD was not the best skated by P squared but better than F and G. Yes, F and G are m ore audience friendly but that is not being judged here alone. You could have a very fan friendly routine and osmeone can do a very itnrospective performanc just because one is more admirable doesn't mean the other can't win or score higher. It does not seem fair that Piper and Paul are being dumped. Yes, canada was stupid for not putting them in the FD in the eam. Even without proper judging they would probably be tied overall in the team for third. To be blunt Fear and Gibson are probably the MOST entertaining team but that is not what is being judged. THeir overall skating i noticeabl behind Chock and Bates, Gullaume and Laurence, the Italians, Z/K and LaLa. and maybe France No. 2. They deserve invites to skating shows. But it is not fair that they are being gifted olympic bronze. The Italians will probably get team bronze. Piper and Paul seem unfairly destined to the Canadian curse - great teams like Weaver Poje, BOurne and Kraatz, Dubreil and Lauzon and now them medalless come olympics. Stop the madness judges We love F and G but the should not be given the bronze nor should Italy just because they are the home nation.

 

[Artistry]

I just started watching replays on Peacock. Can someone explain why I can’t fast forward ads? I was able to for other competitions. Annoying!

 

[Skater Boy]

Thank you for this. I enjoy many teams. I don’t have a particular favorite, but I really like Chock and Bates Free Dance.

The most sublime performance with magic smoothiness imho is FB/C. inthe FD CB have really improved their FD but it still seems slow, a bit awkward and clunky. Not as smooth as the French. In part I think Madison's leggis and white boots add to the clunkiness. But they just aren't as smoot as in past FD. I am disappointed in Piper and Pauls programs but they are overall worthy of at least bronze. The Italians are good but their programs are ho hum and the RD really seems to be perfunctory for them. Fear and Gibson are my favourites to watch from entertainment but their programs and elements are NOT bronze medal worthy. Yes, it is just me and I am not the judges but I don't see why they are getting third. I am really fearing Fear and Gibson get bronze and P squared are so disenchanted they retire and o not go to worlds. Fear and Gibson to me are the team that should be vulnerable to being passed by Italy, France 2, Canada 2, USA 2. Instead FG are going to be part of an IAM podium. This has nothing to do with them as people but really this seems so unfair.

 

[Arigato]

I just started watching replays on Peacock. Can someone explain why I can’t fast forward ads? I was able to for other competitions. Annoying!

They don't want us to be able to escape their evil ways.

 

[dorispulaski]

I just started watching replays on Peacock. Can someone explain why I can’t fast forward ads? I was able to for other competitions. Annoying!

The ads are not part of the actual program. If you rewatch the program, you get different ads. All that is in the program is the equivalent of a prompt "Insert ad here." It is quite devilish.

 

[NanaPat]

The ads are not part of the actual program. If you rewatch the program, you get different ads. All that is in the program is the equivalent of a prompt "Insert ad here." It is quite devilish.

Do they at least have the "insert ad here" before/during the bows or replays? I hate rewatching on the ISU YouTube channel because they insert ads in the middle of skates! Way to break the mood. I prefer to rewatch on the CBC, where they put all the ads at the start, if I can find the darned videos on the CBC website. The CBC's devilishness consists of hiding the replays.

 

[LeReveur]

I haven't seen the performances of this segment, but I will jump in since there is so much commentary about Chock/Bates' speed. I have seen them live multiple times in different decades, and they truly can be quite slow compared to the top teams. I believe FSU, the other skating fan site I know if, used to refer to Chock as dragged around by Bates, and I have seen it happen since she does not produce much power herself. Her twizzles are very unimpressive live, and while I am not an expert in ice dance scoring, I can recall remarks about lifts being more valued and rewarded a lot in recent years to literally lift Chock/Bates' point total. I absolutely think they deserve to be pointed out as having weaker skating skills than some competitors, and I don't agree with the hyperbole from their fans who get defensive.

Look, when I started watching the sport, I wanted Duchesnay/Duchesnay to win Olympic gold. I still like many of their programs, but I am now seasoned enough to know that in certain areas, Isabelle Duchesnay is like the predecessor of Madison Chock. They are both pretty women who slap on a lot of makeup and exhibit good performance qualities. They have some skating ability, to be sure, but I would not state that they are technically the best in their sport. I completely "get" ice dance fans who spit up in their mouths thinking of Chock/Bates as having three world titles and possibly an Olympic gold in ice dance. Hubbell/Donohue, to cite a recent example, never got a world title, but they were superior. The list could go on and on and on and on. I don't ask for Chock/Bates' gold medals to be stripped away at all (as some of their "defenders" might already be starting to type), but I wholeheartedly think that most of the comments some have against them are justifiable, such as their lack of speed, rather than simply coming down to personal taste.

 

[dorispulaski]

Weirdly enough, the first requirement of ice dance is to dance. Chock and Bates dance. Piper and Paul dance. Some of the other teams dance, but quite a few do not, or seldom do. Some of the lower rated teams dance, too. The best do something with every nuance & beat of the music.

With the most lacking, you can't remember a bar of the music they skated to or what the program really was about.

Another consideration is how close they are together, how difficult the holds they use are, and how well they change holds. Chock and Bates are the best at this now. Today, their last step sequence was particularly good and fiendishly difficult. When a team uses close holds, it makes it harder to skate fast. If you are just skating hand in hand, you can rocket around the ice, but don't expect the really top marks.

A third is how much in synch they are with each other.

Speed is not the only important thing. And acceleration is important as well as speed. The acceleration Chock and Bates got after the clapping sequence was really good.

Chock and Bates try to do something different every year. And they are old. And they try to improve each year. When they start the season, they are rather slow, as they deal with the new challenges they have set themselves. As the season goes on, and as the program develops, they get better and faster. Today they were the fastest, except during the twizzles.

Their twizzles are their worst skill. They used to rocket into them and Evan would go off axis and blow the second twizzle, as likely as not. Since they went to IAM, they do them with more control but go into them slower, and they get less ice coverage. They compensate by continuing to interpret the music while they twizzle.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Piper and Paul dance.

But not in this competition, unfortunately.

I greatly dislike how Canada sat them out, and it makes no sense. The team bronze was very much within their reach, but probably not anymore, throwing away 2 points and the tiebreaker to the Italians.

 

[Kinga]

Weirdly enough, the first requirement of ice dance is to dance. Chock and Bates dance. Piper and Paul dance. Some of the other teams dance, but quite a few do not, or seldom do. Some of the lower rated teams dance, too. The best do something with every nuance & beat of the music.

Isn't this very subjective? For you C/B and G/P dance, for others someone else does. Can this be measured?

Another consideration is how close they are together, how difficult the holds they use are, and how well they change holds. Chock and Bates are the best at this now. Today, their last step sequence was particularly good and fiendishly difficult. When a team uses close holds, it makes it harder to skate fast. If you are just skating hand in hand, you can rocket around the ice, but don't expect the really top marks.

Is this included in the scoring? Are the difficulty of holds defined? Is it quantified how often and how long the skaters skate in holds? I am genuinely interested, and I do not feel like searching internet

But not in this competition, unfortunately.

I greatly dislike how Canada sat them out, and it makes no sense. The team bronze was very much within their reach, but probably not anymore, throwing away 2 points and the tiebreaker to the Italians.

It is weird. And they lost a great opportunity to shine in the absence of Brits.

 

[Zora]

As someone who knows nothing about ice dance and only occasionally watches this discipline, I didn't like G/Ps short dance yesterday.

 

[dorispulaski]

Isn't this very subjective? For you C/B and G/P dance, for others someone else does. Can this be measured?

Performance and composition are both parts of PCS components. And yes there is subjectivity to it. Good dancers who have inferior tech skills are seldom really rewarded as they should be.

Is this included in the scoring? Are the difficulty of holds defined? Is it quantified how often and how long the skaters skate in holds? I am genuinely interested, and I do not feel like searching internet

.

Yes, they are included in GOE.

Here is a reference to dance holds

Reference: Dance Holds – Ice-dance.com

www.ice-dance.com

Oftentimes, when you see people criticizing C&B's tech scores, they are getting credit for stuff like this.

In PCS, they are getting credit for performance, composition, and timing.

I thought this FD was correctly judged, on the whole. Here are the protocols.

Reference: Dance Holds – Ice-dance.com

www.ice-dance.com

And this was judged by a panel with no Americans on it.

Olympic Winter Games 2026 - Ice Dance - Free Dance

results.isu.org

Function	Name	Country of Origin	Nation
Referee​	Mr. BALINT Csaba​	Hungary​	ISU
Technical Controller​	Mr. KOZUBEK Marcin​	Poland​	ISU
Technical Specialist​	Ms. HIGASHINO Ayako​	Japan​	ISU
Technical Specialist​	Ms. YANG Taehwa​	South Korea​	ISU
Judge No.1​	Ms. KHMYZENKO Elena​	Ukraine​	ISU
Judge No.2​	Ms. KEEN Leslie​	Canada​	ISU
Judge No.3​	Mr. BAUMANN Christian​	Germany​	ISU
Judge No.4​	Ms. RHEE Chihee​	South Korea​	ISU
Judge No.5​	Mr. RUSSELL Nicholas​	Great Britain​	ISU
Judge No.6​	Mr. KOSINA Richard​	Czechia​	ISU
Judge No.7​	Ms. MORITZ Patricia​	Australia​	ISU
Judge No.8​	Mr. HUANG Feng​	China​	ISU
Judge No.9​	Ms. OLOZAGARRE Marta​	Spain​	ISU
Data Operator​	Ms. FAGERSTROM Anne​	​	ISU
Replay Operator​	Mr. AVOT Lionel​	​	ISU

 

[16Olympics]

But not in this competition, unfortunately.

I greatly dislike how Canada sat them out, and it makes no sense. The team bronze was very much within their reach, but probably not anymore, throwing away 2 points and the tiebreaker to the Italians.

I read a post by Zach today about his performance. He said they knew they were going to do the Team FS three weeks ago. He said they were very nervous beforehand but once the music started, they were better.

 

[labgoat]

I thought this FD was correctly judged, on the whole. Here are the protocols.

https://results.isu.org/results/season2526/owg2026/FSKXTEAM--------------QUAL0004DC--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf

 

[moonvine]

Do they at least have the "insert ad here" before/during the bows or replays? I hate rewatching on the ISU YouTube channel because they insert ads in the middle of skates! Way to break the mood. I prefer to rewatch on the CBC, where they put all the ads at the start, if I can find the darned videos on the CBC website. The CBC's devilishness consists of hiding the replays.

You can pay for YouTube premium and not get ads. I got 3 months free and liked it so much I bit the bullet and paid.

 

[Janice4th]

The most sublime performance with magic smoothiness imho is FB/C. inthe FD CB have really improved their FD but it still seems slow, a bit awkward and clunky. Not as smooth as the French. In part I think Madison's leggis and white boots add to the clunkiness. But they just aren't as smoot as in past FD. I am disappointed in Piper and Pauls programs but they are overall worthy of at least bronze. The Italians are good but their programs are ho hum and the RD really seems to be perfunctory for them. Fear and Gibson are my favourites to watch from entertainment but their programs and elements are NOT bronze medal worthy. Yes, it is just me and I am not the judges but I don't see why they are getting third. I am really fearing Fear and Gibson get bronze and P squared are so disenchanted they retire and o not go to worlds. Fear and Gibson to me are the team that should be vulnerable to being passed by Italy, France 2, Canada 2, USA 2. Instead FG are going to be part of an IAM podium. This has nothing to do with them as people but really this seems so unfair.

Personally not a fan of the French teams Free Dance. Too monotone for me. I imagine people can call it contemporary dance, but I would like something to catch my interest. I liked the Canadian teams skating, hated the music. While it does change up somewhat, that constant background ‘drone’ distracts me from enjoying the skate. Bolero can be that way with some skaters, and frankly, I really don’t think anyone can top the Torvill and Dean masterpiece.