Madison Chock, Evan Bates 'wouldn't change anything' after ice dance silver

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Madison Chock, Evan Bates 'wouldn't change anything' after ice dance silver

They had occupied the ice dance penthouse for so much of the past four seasons, including the last three World Championships, that Madison Chock and Evan Bates might as well have been declared owners of the place.

Yet when they were ready to throw a housewarming celebration in front of the world, Chock and Bates were evicted by a couple of new kids on the block, French team Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, whom they know as friends and train with at the same rink in Montreal.

So, the apparent end of the U.S. ice dancers’ stellar career did not include the individual Olympic gold medal that had been their goal since deciding they would try for a fourth Winter Games as competitive partners and a first as husband and wife.

Chock and Bates claimed silver after Wednesday’s free dance, adding an individual medal to the golds they won in the team event at both this Olympics and the last. They were a frustrated fourth in the 2022 ice dance event.

“It’s definitely a little bittersweet, because we are so, so happy with how we performed this week,” Chock said, her voice cracking as she continued the thought.

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French team defying timelines for ice dance success

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French team defying timelines for ice dance success

It’s not supposed to happen this way in ice dance, having two skaters who teamed up less than a year ago leading the Olympics after the rhythm dance.

After all, the last three Olympic champions all had skated together seemingly forever, beginning when they were children: 18 years for 2022 gold medalists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France; 21 years for 2018 winners Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada; 17 years for 2014 winners Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States.

"Longevity is incredibly important because of how complex both the training relationship and competitive relationship is, especially in ice dance, since the elements are so nuanced, and there’s so much relying on the performance and emotional chemistry," Ben Agosto, 2006 Olympic silver medalist with Tanith (Belbin) White, told me when Papadakis and Cizeron won.

And yet here we are, with Cizeron and his new partner, freshly minted French citizen Laurence Fournier Beaudry, beating three-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States by two whiskers in Monday’s opening phase of the 2026 ice dance event. It concludes with the free dance Wednesday.

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Gracie Gold faces her traumatic past in stunningly candid memoir

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Gracie Gold faces her traumatic past in stunningly candid memoir

It is tempting to see Gracie Gold’s story mainly as a compelling cautionary tale about the mental health risks of a sport in which the pursuit of excellence must start when athletes still are children.

It is also tempting to see Gold’s story as sui generis, the result of a childhood, adolescence and young adulthood spent in a family whose dysfunction she describes with raw detail in the memoir, OUTOFSHAPEWORTHLESSLOSER, published Tuesday.

Seeing it as one or the other would be a simplistic reaction to a story so complex it recalls a landmark 1957 movie, “The Three Faces of Eve.”

Rather than Eve’s multiple personalities, Gold had three different personas.

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Vanessa James says she was unaware of former pairs partner's alleged sexual abuse, apologizes for her silence on subject

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Vanessa James says she was unaware of former pairs partner's alleged sexual abuse, apologizes for her silence on subject

Canadian pairs skater Vanessa James insisted Thursday she was not aware that her former partner, Morgan Cipres, had been involved four years ago in alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl who trained at the same Florida rink.

This was the first time James, who competed for France with Cipres at the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, has addressed the subject. She apologized for silence some may have deemed hurtful.

Speaking during a press conference in advance of next week’s Skate Canada Grand Prix event, James said, “I’m deeply disappointed that my ex-partner would engage in that type of behavior.”

James said she had not thought of making a public statement until now because “it was an ongoing investigation, and it was something that I was not involved in in any way.

“Though I could have or should have supported victims of abuse, people that know me – and I hope the whole world – know I’m a good person, and I condemn that type of behavior.

“I chose not to make a statement, maybe to my regret, but I hope that victims and survivors know I commend their bravery, and I support them and believe them. I am sorry if my silence hurt them in any way.”

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SafeSport calls out figure skating for unchecked "culture of abuse"

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SafeSport calls out figure skating for unchecked "culture of abuse"

 In response to a U.S. Figure Skating letter that challenged its credibility and operating methods, the U.S. Center for SafeSport has criticized figure skating for a culture that “allowed grooming and abuse to go on unchecked for too long.”

SafeSport leveled that charge in a statement sent to Globetrotting that also rejected a USFS request made last week for the Center to complete its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct made against late pairs skater John Coughlin.

It a Feb. 26 letter to the SafeSport board of directors, USFS cited concerns about the way SafeSport handles such allegations as a reason for wanting the investigation finished.

“Many U.S. Figure Skating athletes and members have expressed concern to U.S. Figure Skating leadership over the Center’s actions and shared that they have lost trust and confidence in how the Center processes allegations of abuse,” the USFS letter said.

SafeSport’s Monday statement said its work on the Coughlin case and “other Figure Skating matters” had uncovered evidence that there “was/is” a wider problem of abuse in the sport.

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