MILAN — Madison Chock and Evan Bates' teammates say the U.S. ice dance pair are their champions.
The husband-and-wife duo turned in a season-best free skate on Wednesday at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will likely be the couple's fourth and final Games, but Chock and Bates fell 1.43 points short of gold-medal winners Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France.
Fellow American pair Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, who finished fifth in the ice dance competition, embraced their veteran compatriots after Chock and Bates finished their matador-and-bull themed free skate.
"They've had an amazing career and I mean for the last three seasons, they've demonstrated technical proficiency, artistic excellence," Zingas said. "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."
Zingas added, "If it was my gold to give, I'd give it to them ... I thought they were amazing in both segments of this competition. And I'll always support them."
