MILAN — A single tear rolled down Madison Chock’s face. A silver medal hung around her neck. It was a bittersweet prize.
Chock and Evan Bates, the three-time world ice dance champions, settled for second place in their fourth Olympics together, falling 1.43 points behind France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron on Wednesday at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Cizeron has won back-to-back Olympic titles with different partners after climbing the podium in Beijing with Gabriella Papadakis.
While Chock and Bates, who have skated together for 15 years and got married in 2024, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron shot to the top of the sport after just 11 months together. When the winning score was announced Cizeron hugged his coach and covered his face while crying. Chock and Bates, sitting next to the kiss-and-cry in white arm chairs reserved for the current leaders, clapped politely.
This gold medal would have been a perfect ending to their accomplished career.
The three-time world champions and seven-time U.S. champions claimed their first individual Olympic medal but were favored to win gold in what is likely their final competitive season. On an Olympic team with only one other athlete with previous Games experience — 20-year-old Alysa Liu skated in Beijing as a teenager — Chock and Bates became the unofficial parents to their younger teammates, including Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, who finished fifth, and 11th-place finishers Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko.
France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron compete in the ice dance final at the Winter Olympics in Milan on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“I call them Mr. and Mrs. America,” U.S. teammate Amber Glenn said this week.
Chock and Bates helped win team gold medals in 2022 and 2026. They were the steadiest contributors of this year’s team Olympic championship, winning both dance programs to keep the United States ahead in a competition that came down to a single point.
But performing four times in six days required more mental strength and discipline than ever, Bates said. Both programs in the team competition earned season’s best scores. After another season high Wednesday, Bates lowered his forehead to the ice and exhaled deeply. On his knees, he wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist and held on tight.
“It was our gold medal performance,” Bates said. “It was the best that we could skate.”
An injury in 2018 and an uncharacteristic slip in 2022 kept them off the individual podium during the last two Olympics. But they haven’t missed a podium since the stumble in Beijing. They were undefeated this season, placing first for both the rhythm and free dance portions of every competition.
Until the individual Olympic short dance.
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, who paired together last year only after Fournier Beaudry’s longtime skating partner was suspended for sexual assault allegations and Cizeron parted ways with Papadakis, inched ahead by 0.46 points after Monday’s rhythm dance. It was a reversal from the team event, where Chock and Bates led the qualifying round 91.06-89.98 over the French pair.
After the rhythm dance score for Chock and Bates flashed across the screen, her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Their coach Patrice Lauzon’s mouth dropped open. He furrowed his brow and cocked his head in confusion. While Chock and Bates smiled and waved to the crowd, Lauzon, who is also on the coaching team for Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, looked on with suspicion.
Chock and Bates did their best to leave no doubt Wednesday. Their enthralling matador and bull program set to “Paint it Black” brought U.S. fans to their feet. Stars and stripes waved in every corner of Milano Ice Skating Arena.
From left, the U.S., French and Canadian teams at the medal ceremony.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“I feel like in life, sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way,” Bates said of judging disputes. “That’s life, and that’s sport. And it’s a subjective sport. It’s a judged sport. But one fact that is indisputable is we delivered our best. … The rest is not up to us.”
While Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron skated, Chock and Bates held hands sitting next to the kiss-and-cry. They gazed into each other’s eyes and spoke softly to each other.
“We just told each other that we’re proud of each other, we love each other, and there’s nothing more we could have done,” Chock said, “and nothing that we would change.”
