BOSTON — In the early part of their skating careers, Madison Chock and Evan Bates got to train in Michigan alongside some of the legends of U.S. ice dance: Meryl Davis. Charlie White. Tanith Belbin. Ben Agosto.
"I just remember being in awe," Bates told NBC Sports last year. "Being a teenager and getting to share the ice with your idols is the most motivating thing you could possibly imagine."
Yet on Saturday in Boston, Chock and Bates achieved something that even their idols never did.
The veteran ice dancers − and recently-married couple − clinched their third consecutive world championship with a magnificent free skate at TD Garden, capping their jazz-themed performance with a mesmerizing step sequence that prompted roars from the home crowd. They entered the day with a lead of more than three points over the rest of the field, which is a healthy margin in ice dance. And their free skate was more than good enough to seal the victory, giving them a total score of 222.06.
"Coming from Ben Agosto, it's something extra special," Bates told Agosto, who is working as an in-arena host at the world championships. "Tanith and Ben. Meryl and Charlie. The American teams who paved the way, showed us what it means to be champions."
Chock and Bates' longtime rivals, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada, turned in a strong performance of their own Saturday but had to settle for silver with a score of 216.54. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain (207.11) took bronze.
The other American ice dance teams − Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons − placed fifth and ninth, respectively.
Chock and Bates, who now train in Montreal, have now won three consecutive world championships entering the 2025-26 season, which they've indicated will be their last. They are likely to be the favorites at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in February.
Chock and Bates have long been one of the stalwart pairs in ice dance, which has become one of the more consistent figure skating disciplines for Team USA since Belbin and Agosto won Olympic silver at the 2006 Turin Games. The Michigan natives have competed together since 2011 and also been in a romantic relationship since 2017. This season has been their first as a married couple.
With Saturday's win, Chock and Bates have established themselves as the team to beat next year in Milan. They've now won six world medals, in addition to a team gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
"We’re putting all of our chips on the table for next season," Bates said during a conference call last week. "We have been so focused on just absolutely maximizing our potential for Boston, for the next 12 months. We’re going to treat it like its our last shot."
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.
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