Madison Chock and Evan Bates 2026 Olympics: on and off the ice
On ice, Madison Chock and Evan Bates suffered a controversial scoring decision, but off the ice, this year let Chock express her love of fashion on a national stage.
Photo courtesy of Phantom Kabocha/Wikimedia Commons
Fashion designer and Olympic gold medalist: these are both titles held by Madison Chock, Team USA figure skater. However, most recently in her Olympic skating career, her designs have not been the hottest topic of discussion. Instead, media and fans alike have been focused on her silver medal-winning Olympic ice dance program with husband Evan Bates. Rather than celebrating the medaling skate, many are saying it deserved a gold medal instead.
Bates and Chock have been figure skating partners since 2011 and husband and wife since 2024, TODAYdocumented. “The progression of our careers has led to this moment” Bates expressed to TODAY. As further noted in that article, Chock and Bates went into this year’s Olympics as “the heavy favorites”; ultimately, they are leaving the games with a silver medal for their ice dance program set to “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones.
The controversy came after their performance scored just 0.43 points behind gold medal winners Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, representing France, according to CBS Sports. Jezebel Dabouis, a French Olympic judge, awarded Chock and Bates a 129.74 and Beaudry and Cizeron a 137.45. CBS Sportsexplained, “The difference between those marks was the largest of any judge, and the score given to [Chock and Bates] was the lowest of the judges.” CBS News explained the supposed reasoning behind Dabouis’s scoring decision: despite Beaudry and Cizeron's program being “less clean than Chock and Bates’” with one mistake during a twizzle spin—which was not marked by Dabouis—the French skaters were given more points for “artistic presentation and interpretation of the music,” important elements to ice dance.
Madison Chock commented on her and Bates’s own performance to reporters, as detailed by Bleacher Report, saying “we are so, so happy with how we performed…We really gave it our all, and I wouldn't change anything about how we approached each performance, what we delivered in each performance.” .” Still, USA Today noted other skaters, both past and present, saying that they believe Chock and Bates deserved the gold. American skater Emilea Zingas said, “I’m in awe of [Madison Chock] all the time, and I think [Chock and Bates] skated fabulously... It’s disappointing to me that they didn’t get the gold.” Former Team USA gold medalist Evan Lysaeck called Chock and Bates his “golden couple.”
In an interview with CBS News, Madison Chock expressed her wish “to just see more transparent judging” in the Olympics, “because there's a lot on the line for the skaters when they're out there giving it their all, and we deserve to have the judges also giving us their all and for it to be a fair and even playing field,” she continued. However, Chock and Bates did not appeal the scoring decision within the 24 hours allowed to do so, as reported byESPN. The International Skating Union “stood by the decision,” making a successful appeal “unlikely,” ESPN explained. “We know how we felt on center ice after we skated… It was our Olympic moment. It felt like a winning skate to us, and that’s what we’re going to hold on to,” Chock stated.
A brighter moment from the 2026 Olympics for Madison Chock, however, has been getting to compete in a costume designed by her, and getting to see other skaters wear her designs. Who What Weardocumented that before she was a decorated figure skater, her mom inspired her love for fashion as a young girl. In 2023, Chock launched her own label “beginning to work with other figure skaters,” the fashion media company detailed. This year, when she was not busy skating herself in the costumes she helped design for her and her partner, she got to see Olympic skaters from Spain, Georgia, and Australia also wearing her designs while competing, as ESPNposted on their Instagram. On the opportunity, Chock commented, “It’s honestly been an honor to be asked to help with something like that.”