Ice Dance Duo Chock and Bates Win 7th U.S. Title

After 12 years of partnership and three Olympic appearances, Madison Chock and Evan Bates are getting one more chance at their dream.

The ice dancing duo captured their seventh U.S. Figure Skating Championship title in St. Louis on Saturday, setting an American record and virtually guaranteeing their spot at the 2026 Milan Olympics. They scored 228.87 points total, showcasing the refined elegance that's made them world champions three times over.

What makes this story special isn't just another trophy. It's that Chock, 33, and Bates, 36, have collected nearly every medal the sport offers except the one that matters most to them: an individual Olympic medal.

They finished eighth in 2014, ninth in 2018, and fourth in 2022. They won team gold in Beijing, but their personal podium moment never came.

"It's going to be a lot more of what it has been," Chock said after their win. "We know what to do. We've got our plan, and we're executing it."

The timing couldn't be better. France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, who won gold in 2022, are no longer competing. Russia's silver medalists are banned from competition.

For the first time in their storied career, Chock and Bates head to an Olympics as genuine gold medal favorites. Their persistence through disappointment, their trust in the process, and their continued improvement into their mid-30s prove that some dreams are worth the wait.

Why This Inspires

Chock and Bates embody something rare in elite sports: the ability to keep showing up after heartbreak. They've won 14 total national medals, eight Four Continents medals, and five world championship medals.

Most athletes would have retired after missing the podium three times. Instead, this duo kept training, kept believing, and kept getting better.

"Seven-time national champions seems surreal," said Chock, a Redondo Beach native. They now hold nearly every record in American ice dancing.

Their journey honors the legacy of American ice dance excellence. The U.S. has medaled in ice dancing at five straight Olympics, a streak Chock and Bates hope to extend.

Beyond the medals, they're showing younger skaters that consistency and self-belief matter more than early success. Some stories take longer to reach their perfect ending.

Milan will be their final chapter, and after years of coming close, they're ready to finish it right.