The story for Madison Chock and Evan Bates was written before they ever put blade to ice.
The duo has dominated the world of ice dance since the 2022-23 season, and Thursday afternoon at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was no different.
They lead after the rhythm dance, soaring to a 91.70.
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik are second with 85.98, while Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko sit in third, having earned a score of 83.29.
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (80.55) and Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville (79.43) round out the top five, setting up a battle for Team USA’s three dance quota spots with its team for next month’s Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 set to be announced Sunday (11 January).
“We had a ton of fun performing today. It really felt like we were very present and grounded and able to enjoy the energy of the arena and the energy between the two of us,” Chock said afterward.
“We felt like this was a great skate and a good stepping stone towards Milan.”
Performing to a medley of songs by Lenny Kravitz, the crowd inside St. Louis’ Enterprise Center adored Chock and Bates, showering them with the biggest cheers – and first standing ovation – of Thursday (8 January) evening.
The three-time and reigning World Championships winners are seeking an historic seventh U.S. crown that would give them sole possession of the record they currently share with 2014 Olympic champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
Olympic bronze medal winners Maia and Alex Shibutani returned to the U.S. Championships for the first time since 2018. They sit in 10th place after the rhythm dance.
Evan Bates: “We’ve tried to not get too emotional”
Skating in St. Louis at their 15th U.S. Championships together, Chock and Bates are quick to lift up the extended members of their respective families – the people who have helped their decade-and-a-half career not just endure, but thrive.
Most notably: their moms, who have an entire section dedicated to them in the rhythm dance as the music shifts to Kravitz’s Always on the Run.
“We really love that part of the program,” said Chock. “I think at one point or another in all of our lives, our mom has told us something very useful. And so I think that song really relates to that.”
The two have long taken things year-by-year, season-by-season – and still haven’t made any declarations about life beyond Milano.
But on the eve of what would be their fourth Olympic appearance together – and Bates’ fifth overall – he couldn’t help but reflect.
“I’m so grateful to my mom for putting me on the ice when I was four years old,” he said. “It completely changed the course of my life. They come everywhere. I just absolutely love having them around.”
Thursday, they let themselves take it all in, including a lap around the rink to get settled as the six-minute warm-up came to a close.
“We’ve tried to not get too emotional,” Bates said. “But… the nostalgia of this event and the 15-year journey that we’ve been on… it’s really hard to be here and not look around and feel some welling up.”
Saturday’s (10 January) free dance will no doubt bring more emotion.
For now, the focus is on the task at hand.
“The ultimate payback for ourselves is to skate well,” Bates said. “But we also want to just enjoy that moment, because it’s fleeting – and it can very well be the last.”
Source: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/madison-chock-evan-bates-lead-rhythm-dance-2026-u-s-figure-skating-championships-milano-cortina
