MILAN — The U.S. ice dance pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the silver medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. They finished with a total of 224.39 points after scoring a 134.67 in their free dance.
The married couple, who have been skating together for a decade, trailed the French pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron by 0.46 of a point entering Wednesday’s free dance, needing to come from behind to win. They skated second to last in the lineup, just ahead of Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry, who went on to score a 135.64 in the free dance to total 225.82 points for gold.
‘It’s a little bittersweet because we are so, so happy with how we performed this week,’ Chock said. ‘We really gave it our all, and I wouldn’t change anything about how we approached each performance, what we delivered in each performance. We really gave it our best and that’s what we set out to do coming to these games. So I think we’ve got a lot to be proud of and a lot to be grateful for because we’ve had an incredible career, and we’ve been so well supported by our families and our coaches and by each other. And sometimes that’s just how it shakes out.’
It is the first ice dance Olympic medal for Chock and Bates, who won gold with Team USA on Sunday. The pair also won team gold at the 2022 Games.
‘It was our gold medal performance,’ Bates said. ‘It was the best that we could skate. It was a personal best score. It was a fourth performance over six days. It took a lot of mental strength and discipline to be locked in and to continue to go out and skate well, and we did everything where we could. Like Maddie said, I think there’s so many emotions that come through after a week like this, but 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.’
Although these Games are expected to be the last for Chock and Bates, they said after the ice dance competition concluded that their decision is to be determined.
‘It’s really hard to say what the career plans will be,’ Bates said. ‘TBD.’
Also competing Wednesday were the U.S. duos of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, and Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, all making their Olympic debuts at these Games. Zingas and Koles earned a 206.72 for fifth place. Carreira and Ponomarenko scored a season-best in their free dance to bring their total score to 197.62 for 11th place.
“They’ve had an amazing career and I mean for the last three seasons, they’ve demonstrated technical proficiency, artistic excellence,’ Zingas said of Chock and Bates. ‘I’m in awe of her all the time, and I think they skated fabulously today. It’s disappointing to me that they didn’t get the gold for me … They’re my favorites and if it was my gold to give, I’d give it to them. But it’s not my gold to give. And I thought they were amazing in both segments of this competition. And I’ll always support them and hopefully I can learn a lot from them.”
Watch Olympic figure skating on Peacock
Figure skating free dance live results, updates
Here are final scores and standings for the Olympic ice dance competition.
- Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (France): 225.82 total score, 135.64 free dance, 90.18 rhythm dance.
- Madison Chock and Evan Bates (United States): 224.39 total score, 134.67 free dance, 89.72 rhythm dance.
- Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (Canada): 217.74 total score, 131.56 free dance, 86.18 rhythm dance.
- Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (Italy): 209.58 total score, 125.30 free dance, 84.28 rhythm dance.
- Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (United States): 206.72 total score, 123.19 free dance, 83.53 rhythm dance.
- Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius (Lithuania): 204.66 total score, 121.71 free dance, 82.95 rhythm dance.
- Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (Great Britain): 204.32 total score, 118.85 free dance, 85.47 rhythm dance.
- Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Bruissaud (France): 203.68 total score, 121.43 free dance, 82.25 rhythm dance.
- Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck (Spain): 201.49 total score, 122.96 free dance, 78.53 rhythm dance.
- Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (Canada): 199.80 total score, 120.14 free dance, 79.66 rhythm dance.
- Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (United States): 197.62 total score, 119.47 free dance, 78.15 rhythm dance.
- Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis (Finland): 196.03 total score, 118.07 free dance, 77.96 rhythm dance.
- Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin (Georgia): 196.02 total score, 118.87 free dance, 77.15 rhythm dance.
- Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain le Gac (Canada): 187.18 total score, 112.83 free dance, 74.35 rhythm dance.
- Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler (Czechia): 185.00 total score, 109.67 free dance, 75.33 rhythm dance.
- Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek (Czechia): 181.44 total score, 109.35 free dance, 72.09 rhythm dance.
- Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez (Great Britain): 179.45 total score, 106.99 free dance, 72.46 rhythm dance.
- Holly Harris and Jason Chan (Australia): 176.39 total score, 108.64 free dance, 67.75 rhythm dance.
- Sofia Val and Asaf Kazimov (Spain): 165.23 total score, 100.25 free dance, 64.98 rhythm dance.
- Milla Ruud Reitan and Nikolaj Majorov (Sweden): 165.05 total score, 97.74 free dance, 67.31 rhythm dance.
Are Madison Chock and Evan Bates dating?
They are married. The duo began skating together 2011 before they became a couple in 2016 and getting married in 2024.
Chock and Bates Olympics medals
Chock and Bates have won gold already at the 2026 Winter Olympics — in the team event — as they did at the 2022 Games. They now have won their first Olympic ice dance medal.
Emilea Zingas, Vadym Kolesnik free skate
It looks like there will be at least two American ice dance teams in the top six with Zingas and Kolesnik killing it with their “Romeo and Juliet” program.
They received exceptional high grades on their curve lift and rotational lift, really hitting their stride in the middle of the performance. Zingas and Kolesnik got a season-best 123.19 for the skate, putting their total at 206.7 to ensure a top six finish.
Christina Carreira, Anthony Ponomarenko free dance
It’s a great start for the Americans in the ice dance, with Carreira and Ponomarenko putting up a season-best in their free dance.
“The Story of a Murderer” program told a tragic tale that ends with Carreira’s in the arms of her partner, a perfect symbol of how they left it all on the ice. They earned a score of 197.62 to move up to first place with half of the field done.
Difference between ice dance and figure skating
Ice dancing does not feature jumps or lifts, like you see figure skating pairs execute. Ice dancing is made up of two segments, the rhythm dance and the free dance.
What is free dance in figure skating?
Free dance is essentially the free skate, or long program, for ice dance. The free dance still features step sequences, lifts and choreographic elements, but it doesn’t have a certain theme skaters have to follow, like the rhythm dance.
It has the goal of “pulling off an entertaining, moving and inspiring performance that looks effortless despite its difficulty. Innovative choreography, timing and rhythm are paramount,” according to U.S. Figure Skating.
When did figure skating start in the Olympics?
Figure skating first made its Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 1908 and made another appearance in Antwerp in 1920, before becoming a Winter Olympic staple at the inaugural 1924 Chamonix Winter Games with men’s singles, women’s singles and pair skating events. Ice dancing was added to the program at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, and the team event was first contested at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Fun facts about figure skating
Athleticism meets grace in figure skating, one of the most popular sports at the Winter Olympics. Whether skaters are performing gravity-defying jumps or experiencing a wide array of emotions in the designated ‘Kiss and Cry’ area, figure skating has captivated Olympic audiences across the world for more than a century. The 2026 Milano Cortina Games will be no different.
Here’s everything you need to know about figure skating and how it works at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
How ice dancing works
A male skater and female skater can perform spins and lifts, but cannot otherwise leave the ice. That means there are no jumps or throws, like pairs skating. The performance is judged on rhythm, footwork and choreography. The event consists of a rhythm dance and free dance.
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