MILAN — Madison Chock took a long pause to gather her thoughts. Her eyes already red, and tears on the verge of flowing again.
With the lights at their brightest, they gave the performance of a lifetime. Ice dance gold was on the line, and what transpired over four minutes on the ice indicated it was in sight. After falling short so many times, Chock and Evan Bates weren’t going to be denied from reaching figure skating immortality.
When the dust settled, they had done it. Chock and Bates finally won a Winter Olympic ice dance medal.
Just one thing: it wasn’t gold.
In a result that has sent shockwaves through the figure skating world, one of the most decorated U.S. duos was upset, taking silver as the controversial French team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron were crowned Olympic champions.
In the immediate aftermath, Chock and Bates stayed stoic. They smiled and waved when their name was called as the second-place team. They smiled with their fellow medalists for a picture. They carried the U.S. flag around the ice with pride, sending love to the crowd.
The husband-and-wife tried to keep it together, but eventually, as they went away from the crowd, the emotions couldn’t be held back any longer.
More than an hour after the results were finalized, Chock and Bates were still trying to grasp the result. It was two days ago when Bates said the goal was gold, but it wouldn’t be a failure if they weren’t at the top of the podium.
Yet after their second-place finish, it felt like the ultimate let down.
“It’s definitely a little bittersweet,” Chock said with tissues in hand.
Most figure skating fans – and even the casual viewer – would argue Chock and Bates outperformed Beaudry and Cizeron. Even though the French team started the night in first place, only .46 separated them in the standings. The slightest advantage could help the Americans leap over them.
It was done with a free dance that has captivated audiences every single time it was performed. Chock and Bates brought the fire and intensity with their matadora and bull story, and most importantly, skated clean.
Like so many times before, they achieved a season-best score of 134.67. In their eyes, they secured what they set out to get.
Chock went on to say how happy they were with their performance, trying to speak through the tears that started to flow. Neither of them said it, but there was a real belief the competition was decided by the time their performance was done.
‘It was our gold medal performance,” Bates said. ‘It was the best that we could skate.”
Yet, there were still the leaders going into the night. Beaudry and Cizeron did exceptionally well, but it didn’t feel as clean as it needed to be. It definitely wasn’t obvious or a given they would keep the lead. The crowd collectively stilled waiting for the results.
The judges thought the opposite. The French score was .97 better, finishing with a victory margin of 1.43.
You couldn’t have asked for more from Chock and Bates, who had a chaotic schedule of four performances in six days. It took so much physical and mental work to go through such a rigorous grind, and they still found a way to collect a medal.
Even with a literal silver lining, they struggled to find the happiness in finally crossing off that Olympic achievement. There are plenty of people who feel like Chock and Bates, who have been the face of American ice dance for nearly a decade, were robbed, with teammates vouching for the symbolic mom and dad of Team USA.
‘It’s disappointing to me that they didn’t get the gold,’ said fellow U.S. ice dancer Emilea Zingas, who finished fifth with partner Vadym Kolesnik.
It’s going to take some time to process the result for Chock and Bates.
“There’s so many emotions that come through after a week like this,” Bates said. “I think when things settle, we’ll be super proud and look back on our time here and be happy with everything that was up to us. We really did our best.”
The night was building toward a coronation where Chock and Bates would cement themselves as one of the most successful ice dance pairs to grace the ice. They still did that, even if it wasn’t with a gold medal. Neither have said this is the end of the line for their Olympic careers, Chock being 33 and Bates nearly 37, but it very well could be.
‘I wouldn’t change anything about how we approached each performance. What we delivered in each performance, we really gave it our best,” Chock said. ‘Sometimes that’s just how it shakes out. This is the story for us, and I wouldn’t change anything.”
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