Madison Chock, Evan Bates win repeat ice dance gold with a nod to U.S. trailblazers

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Madison Chock, Evan Bates win repeat ice dance gold with a nod to U.S. trailblazers

MONTREAL — When Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto finished second at the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, it was the first time in 20 years a U.S. ice dance team had won a world medal.

Who could have guessed that would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between U.S. ice dancers and the awards podium at global figure skating championships?

Madison Chock and Evan Bates added a new line to that story Saturday, becoming the first U.S. dance couple to win consecutive world titles and giving their country medals in 17 of the last 19 worlds, including at nine in a row.

“I absolutely remember vividly when they (Belbin and Agosto) won that silver medal in 2005,” said Bates, 16 at the time. “It seems like that really was the catalyst for what has become a great two decades of U.S. ice dance. ... They really blazed the trail.”

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Papadakis and Cizeron rely on years together to reach gold

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Papadakis and Cizeron rely on years together to reach gold

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron were kids when they each began skating at the same rink in central France, where her mother, Catherine, was an ice dance coach and his father, Marc, the president of the local ice dance club.

They still were kids when Catherine Papadakis thought that they could make a good dance team.

They were both then 9 years old. They would be skating partners for the next 18 years, through adolescence, a move to Canada eight years ago, injuries and the challenges of COVID-19.

The length of that partnership had a significant impact on allowing them to perform as they did Monday in Beijing, winning the 2022 Olympic gold medal with an artistry that has made them one of the most compelling teams in the history of ice dance.

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