The Winter Olympics opened in Milan and Cortina, Italy, kicking off 116 events, including skiing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, luge, biathlon, bobsleigh and skating on Feb. 6.

The most popular sport at the Olympics was ice skating, which blends artistry and athleticism. 

The Olympics drew nearly 24 million viewers in the U.S., and 83 million additional streams from BBC. With high viewership, non-ice skaters also have a take on this year’s ice skating competition.

While this year’s Olympics faced its own controversies over judging bias, compared to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, with a doping scandal and podium breakdowns, there was overall lower public outrage. 

One difference between the 2022 and 2026 results was the scores. In the free skate, the first and second highest scores (Alyssa Liu: 226.79, Kaori Sakamoto: 224.90, Nakai Ami: 219.16), were lower than those of 2022 (Anna Shcherbakova: 255.95, Alexandra Trusova: 251.73, Kaori Sakamoto: 233.13).

Viewers on social media claim the quality of Olympic figure skating decreased because of this discrepancy.

Jesse Zhong (10)

Zhong is an ice skater who competed in the 2026 U.S. Prevagen National Championships

“It’s unfortunate that the scores this year wouldn’t have made it to the podium in Beijing, but it’s not because the sport is regressing,” Zhong said.

According to Zhong, the reason for the lower scores is the absence of Russian competitors due to Russia’s Olympic ban. Despite the ban, some Russian athletes may compete independently under a neutral flag.

“Besides some bias towards their own skaters and the neutral athletes, I think the judges scored pretty fairly this year,” Zhong said. “The bias towards Russian skaters was really apparent. Take Petr Gumennik for instance; he was one of the few skaters that skated cleanly without any major mistakes, and ended in 6th, while many skaters who fell scored above him. The Russians were scored unfairly because of their country’s ban and their history of doping scandals.”

Anika Buzi (11)

Buzi, also an ice skater, has a different take compared to Zhong. Buzi preferred the Milan Games over Beijing because of the difference in competitor morale.

“While the technical elements of Beijing were very advanced, I felt that it was a dramatic and upsetting Olympics,” Buzi said. “I was happy to see that the winners of 2026 were satisfied.”

Buzi concludes that the scores should not be compared, especially when determining whether the sport is regressing.

“I think this year was very different than 2022, so it is hard to compare scores,” Buzi said. “I felt, for the most part, scoring was okay. But in my eyes, Ami Nakai was underscored considering she gave outstanding performances. The Russians were a bit underscored. [There was] maybe a small amount of bias towards the U.S.”

Alita Banerjee (10)

Banerjee, who has skated for over ten years, has a different take on the 2026 Games. 

“Watching figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics was really inspiring,” Banerjee said. “The performances felt really emotional, and I appreciated how many programs focused not just on technical content, but also on connection to the music.”

The biggest difference Banerjee pointed out between 2022 and 2026 is the artistic performance quality. 

“Compared to the 2022 Winter Olympics, the 2026 skating felt a bit more balanced between technical difficulty and the quality of performance,” Banerjee said. “In Beijing many skaters pushed extremely hard on quads and difficult elements, which was exciting but it overshadowed artistic expression.”

Instead of bias, Banerjee thinks that judging quality adheres to the sport’s current trends. 

“It really shows how judging trends and priorities evolve,” Banerjee said. “The sport changes over time and what is valued in one Olympic competition may shift in another. Milan seemed to reward well-rounded programs more, rather than just technical risk.”

The award scores were seen as merited, despite judges’ perceptions of the politics and reputations of specific competing countries. 

“There can sometimes be perceptions of bias in any judged sport, especially when skaters from certain countries have strong reputations,” Banerjee said. “However, this year the placements largely aligned with the performances delivered on the ice.”

Shir Haim (11)

Haim started her skating journey in 2023.

“I know there is a change in attitude for skating,” Haim said. “It can be seen through the friendships of the skaters and the fun they have on the ice. I also think that, overall, they treat skating in a healthier way.”

Like Banerjee, Haim also noticed the increase in artistic expression.

“[I] think that, while there was a downgrade in jumps, artistry was more appreciated, which is an important part of skating,” Haim said.

However, Haim also analyzed scoring bias for the ice dance team, like Zhong and Buzi.

“It was clear that a few judges scored the French and American teams in ways that didn’t make sense, especially because the French got the best scores they ever got, but their performances were definitely not the best they had,” Haim said. “I think that there are always biases when judges from different countries judge the programs.”

Olivia Holder (10)

Although Holder is not an ice skater, she follows the sport and is the school’s junior varsity hip-hop team captain and a member of the varsity contemporary dance team.

“They [the ice skaters] were really, really good,” Holder said. “I thought that it was so athletic, and I love watching the duos and the solos [and] the women’s solos.”

Holder acknowledges the controversies with the sport, but disagrees with the concept to take away credit from other competitors.

“[I understand] the Russian controversy, [but] doesn’t take away from [others] deservingness,” Holder said.

Savannah Williams (10)

Williams is a junior varsity soccer player and an avid figure skating viewer.

“I felt inspired and thought that all the hard work was very impressive,” Williams said.

Williams understands the pressure on 2022 competitors, which made the games less enjoyable.

“I think [2026] was better than the Beijing Olympics because of the higher intensity which made [Beijing] more stressful,” Williams said.

Williams believes scores were fair.

“The opportunity for them to compete is something I’m sure they are very thankful for, and I don’t think the judges would sway their scores based on anything more than their popularity and performance,” Williams said.