BOSTON — In the early part of their skating careers, Madison Chock and Evan Bates got to train in Michigan alongside some of the legends of U.S. ice dance: Meryl Davis. Charlie White. Tanith Belbin. Ben Agosto.
‘I just remember being in awe,’ Bates told NBC Sports last year. ‘Being a teenager and getting to share the ice with your idols is the most motivating thing you could possibly imagine.’
Yet on Saturday in Boston, Chock and Bates achieved something that even their idols never did.
The veteran ice dancers − and recently-married couple − clinched their third consecutive world championship with a magnificent free skate at TD Garden, capping their jazz-themed performance with a mesmerizing step sequence that prompted roars from the home crowd.
They entered the day with a lead of more than three points over the rest of the field, which is a healthy margin in ice dance. And their free skate was more than good enough to seal the victory, giving them a total score of 222.06.
Moments later, Agosto − who is working as an in-arena host at these world championships − congratulated Chock and Bates as they sat in the kiss-and-cry area near the side of the rink.
‘Coming from Ben Agosto, it’s something extra special,’ Bates replied. ‘Tanith and Ben. Meryl and Charlie. The American teams who paved the way showed us what it means to be champions.’
Chock and Bates’ longtime rivals, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada, turned in a strong performance of their own Saturday but had to settle for silver with a score of 216.54. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain (207.11) took bronze.
The other American ice dance teams − Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons − placed fifth and ninth, respectively.
Chock and Bates, who now train in Montreal, have now won three consecutive world championships entering the 2025-26 season, which they’ve indicated will be their last. They are likely to be the favorites at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in February.
‘This one definitely feels extra special,’ Chock said. ‘To do it in front of a home crowd and to have two of our best skates of the season. I don’t think we could’ve done anything better than that.’
Chock and Bates have long been one of the stalwart pairs in ice dance, which has become one of the more consistent figure skating disciplines for Team USA since Belbin and Agosto won Olympic silver at the 2006 Turin Games. The Michigan natives have competed together since 2011 and also been in a romantic relationship since 2017. This season has been their first as a married couple. They’ve indicated that next season could be their last of competition.
‘I would say never say never, but at this point we’re putting all of our chips on the table for next season,’ Bates said during a conference call last week. ‘We have been so focused on just absolutely maximizing our potential for Boston, for the next 12 months. We’re going to treat it like its our last shot.’
With Saturday’s win, Chock and Bates have now won six world medals, in addition to a team gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. And they could very well add an individual Olympic medal next year.
Yet, when asked about their standing in their discipline, they also talked about the strong performances of the other American teams and their reverence for the teams that came before them. The U.S. has had at least one ice dance team on the podium in 15 of the past 16 world championships.
‘I’ve always looked up to Tanith and Ben and Meryl and Charlie,’ Chock said. ‘And I still look up to them.’
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.
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