Michiganders Madison Chock and Evan Bates, if I'm being honest, are two of my favorite athletes I've ever covered, Jeff Seidel writes.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates were unpacking all the old memories. All the disappointments.
Bates pulled out the costume he wore at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
“Which has not come out of that box for seven years,” he said in the new, captivating Netflix docuseries, "Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing."
At that Olympics, Chock and Bates fell during the free dance after the blades of their skates caught – a disastrous mistake. They were expected to compete for a medal but finished ninth.
“It’s kind of hard to look back on those games,” said Chock, the 33-year-old Novi High School alumnus. “It was over before it started.”
Chock pulled out a sweater from Beijing in 2022. Another bad memory. Another disappointment.
“We felt like we delivered a great skate,” Bates said in the doc.
But they finished in fourth place – one spot from a medal, which is no-man’s land at the Olympics.
“After we kind of had the Olympic heartbreak, we packed all of that stuff away and didn’t want to even wear the gear,” Bates said in the doc. “Just the reminder was really difficult.”
After that Olympics they faced a critical decision: Should they keep going, chasing this Olympic dream? Or simply retire?
“It was hard in that moment to commit to another four years after that Olympics,” Bates said in the doc. “But in my heart, I think I knew we weren’t done.”
No, they weren’t. They did keep going – getting married in Hawaii in 2024 – and they have become a force, winning three straight World Championships and running their U.S. championship total to a record seven as they became the gold medal favorites heading into the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, which will run Feb. 6-22.
“We're entering each competition with the intention to win,” Chock said. “And we have a lot of experience under our belts and are 100% confident in our capabilities to deliver our best performances.”
Before their individual competition, they are expected to participate in the figure skating team competition, which includes all four figure skating disciplines – ice dance (including rhythm and free dance components), pairs, men's and women's. The rhythm dance starts Friday in Milan, with a scheduled start time of 3:55 a.m. Detroit time. Chock and Bates already have a gold medal from the team event in 2022.
“I think this time around, there is also going to be a focus for us to really fully live and experience this Olympic Games, knowing that it could be our last,” Bates said. “So, like Maddie said, we are 100% all in and aiming for the top of the podium in Milan, with also the goal to fully experience and enjoy it.”
Shooting for the top while trying to love every second of it – that’s Chock and Bates.
Slow motion pairing
How they even started skating together is a crazy story.
Chock was born in Redondo Beach, California, and her family moved to Novi when she was 12 so she could concentrate on figure skating. “I wanted to be Michelle Kwan,” Chock said. “I wanted to jump and do all the singles things.”
But she found her niche in ice dance.
Bates, meanwhile, was born and raised in Ann Arbor. The 36-year-old's father, Eric, is a cardiologist, and his mother Nancy is an artist. Evan graduated from Michigan in 2013 and he comes from a long line of athletes. His grandfather, Mario Fortino, played basketball at Michigan State in the 1940s; Evan's father was the captain of Princeton's cross-country team.
So, athleticism is in his genes.
But this partnership evolved over time. And that brings us to my favorite Chock and Bates story: their first date.
Bates asked Chock out on a date to celebrate her 16th birthday. He took her to Bahama Breeze and gave her a black zip-up sweater from Pink.
So, that sparked everything, right?
Nope.
That was it. One-and-done, so to speak. They both started dating other people and were skating with different partners. Three years later, in the summer of 2011, they finally began skating together.
And they’ve been together ever since.
I’ve written about Chock and Bates for more than a decade and, if I’m being honest, they are two of my favorite athletes I’ve ever covered. They are just so, well, normal. Just good people. I was once in a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Novi, buying shoes and there was Bates. Just your everyday Olympian, walking around shopping … “Hey man, how you doing?”
It’s wild now to see them on Netflix and in advertisements and on social media, turning into stars – 15 years after starting this journey.
Chemistry was obvious
Back in 2014, I asked Chock to describe Bates.
"I would say Evan is very..." Chock started.
"This is gonna be good," Bates said.
"Intelligent."
"Wow!" he said.
"Well, you are," she said.
"That's nice."
"And hilarious and goofy."
Now remember, this was before they started dating.
"I'd say Maddie has a great sense of humor," Bates said. "She laughs at my jokes, which is great."
She laughed.
"She's serious when she needs to be, definitely driven," he said. "I think that is what has allowed us to succeed together. We are goofy people and we like to have fun at the rink a lot. But at the same time, we are very committed and serious. It's equal balance fun and work."
Looking back at that exchange might explain everything – they had strong chemistry before they were even together, officially.
Now, they are married, heading to their fourth Olympics.
They are known for their risky, creative routines, featuring roles as varied as a snake and a snake charmer and an extraterrestrial and an astronaut. At these Games, their free-dance routine is choreographed to The Rolling Stones’ "Paint it Black" – with Chock as a matador and Bates as a bull.
“We knew that it was something different than what we had done in previous free dances, and that was really something that was exciting to us,” Bates said. “I think part of our longevity has allowed us to reinvent ourselves year after year, and sometimes taking on those risks have really paid off for us.”
It’s clear they have complete trust in each other, not to mention total confidence. They collaborate on everything from musical choice to picking costumes, which Bates designs.
“If we're emotionally and physically well-rested, we can accomplish anything,” she said.
For Chock and Bates, the main competition for the gold medal will be Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, a new team representing France. He won gold in Beijing with his former partner, Gabriella Papadakis. Other contenders include the Canadian team of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier and Italy’s Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri.
“Olympic gold was always the goal,” Chock said at the end of the doc. “What if it all works out? What if all our dreams come true? What if we get exactly what we've been working for?”
The answer seems obvious: The fairytale will come true.
Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
MORE FROM SEIDEL: How a Charlevoix crash survivor earned his own Christmas miracle
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Chock and Bates just your normal Olympic figure skating superstars
Category: General Sports
