Madison Chock

Madison La'akea Te-Lan Hall Chock (born July 2, 1992) is an American ice dancer. Together with her husband and skating partner, Evan Bates, she is the 2026 Winter Olympics silver medalist, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the team event (2022, 2026), a three-time World champion (2023, 2024, and 2025), three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025–26), three-time Four Continents champion (2019, 2020, and 2023); twenty-two-time ISU Grand Prix medalist (nine golds, eleven silvers, two bronzes); ten-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (four golds, five silver, one bronze); and seven-time U.S. national champion (2015, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026). She is also a four-time Olympian, having represented the United States at the 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026 Winter Olympics.

With former partner Greg Zuerlein, Chock is the 2009 World Junior champion, 2008–09 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and 2011 U.S. national bronze medalist. They competed together from 2006 to 2011.

Early life

Madison La'akea Te-Lan Hall Chock was born in Redondo Beach, California. She went to Novi High School. She is of Hawaiian, Chinese, German, English, Irish, French, and Dutch descent. La'akea means "sacred light from heaven" and Te-Lan (特蘭) means "unique orchid."

Early career

Madison Chock began skating at age five, becoming interested after watching it on TV with her parents. Ice dance was suggested to her at the age of twelve, and she found that she enjoyed it, although she initially had no interest in dance. She also tried pair skating and took tests through the intermediate level.

Chock skated for one season with Kurt Lingenfelter on the intermediate level. They won the pewter medal at the 2006 U.S. Junior Championships.

First two seasons with Greg Zuerlein

Chock teamed up with ice dancer Greg Zuerlein in June 2006. They placed fifth in the novice division at the 2007 U.S. Championships. They began working with Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva in 2007.

Making their Junior Grand Prix debut, Chock and Zuerlein won gold in September 2007 in Tallinn, Estonia. With a bronze medal at their second event, in Chemnitz, Germany, they qualified to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Gdańsk, Poland, where they placed fifth. They received the junior bronze medal at the 2008 U.S. Championships.

2008–09 season: World Junior champion and Junior Grand Prix Final gold

In December 2008, Chock and Zuerlein won gold at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Goyang, South Korea.

They won the junior title in January at the 2009 U.S. Championships. They capped off their season by becoming the 2009 World Junior champions in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2009–10 season

Chock and Zuerlein moved up to the senior level. Making their Grand Prix debut, they placed sixth at the 2009 Skate America and eighth at the 2009 Cup of China. They finished fifth at their senior national debut in January 2010. Later that month, they were sent to the 2010 Four Continents Championships in Jeonju, South Korea, where they had the same result.

2010–11 season

Chock and Zuerlein won their first senior Grand Prix medal, bronze, at the 2010 Skate Canada International and followed it up with bronze at the 2010 Trophée Éric Bompard. They won their first senior national medal, bronze, at the 2011 U.S. Championships. After placing fifth again at the 2011 Four Continents Championships, they finished ninth in their first and only appearance at the World Championships, setting personal best scores in both segments of the competition.

On June 7, 2011, Chock and Zuerlein announced the end of their five-year partnership; Zuerlein retired from competition, while Chock said she intended to continue competing. In her subsequent search for a new partner, she was contacted by skaters including Todd Gilles and Paul Poirier.

Chock and Bates career

2011–12 season: First season with Evan Bates

On July 1, 2011, Chock and Evan Bates announced their partnership and that they would continue to be coached by Shpilband and Zueva. They finished fourth at the 2011 Skate Canada International, fifth at the 2011 Trophée Éric Bompard, and fifth at the 2012 U.S. Championships. After Zueva and Shpilband ended their coaching partnership, Chock/Bates were the first team to announce that they would continue training with Shpilband.

2012–13 season: Four Continents bronze

Chock/Bates finished fourth at the 2012 U.S. International Classic and then won gold at the 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy. They then competed at the 2012 Cup of China and finished fourth. At the 2013 U.S. Nationals, Chock/Bates were able to win the silver medal ahead of Shibutani/Shibutani. They were named in the U.S. team to the 2013 Four Continents, where they won the bronze medal. They finished seventh overall at the 2013 World Championships. Chock/Bates competed at the 2013 World Team Trophy and placed first in ice dance, helping Team USA win the team gold for the first time since 2009.

2013–14 season: Sochi Olympics

Chock/Bates were assigned to two Grand Prix events, the 2013 Cup of China and 2013 Rostelecom Cup, and won bronze at both. They won the silver medal at the 2014 U.S. Championships and were named in the U.S. Olympic team. They finished eighth at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Chock/Bates placed fourth in the short dance, fifth in the free, and fifth overall at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan.

2014–15 season: World silver, Four Continents silver and first Grand Prix Final medal

Chock/Bates took silver at the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series event, and then won both their Grand Prix events at the 2014 Skate America and 2014 Rostelecom Cup. The team went on to win the silver at the Grand Prix Final in December and then their first senior national title at the 2015 U.S. Championships in January.

In February, Chock/Bates won silver at the 2015 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, where they finished second to Canada's Weaver/Poje by a margin of 1.28 points. In March, they capped off their season with silver at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China. Ranked first in the short dance and second in the free, they finished with a total score 2.94 points less than the champions, Papadakis/Cizeron of France, and 1.92 more than the bronze medalists, Weaver/Poje.

2015–16 season: World bronze, second consecutive Four Continents and Grand Prix Final medal

Chock/Bates won gold at the 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy, again an ISU Challenger Series event. At the event, they received comments that "Dark Eyes" was not suitable for a polka rhythm. They changed the short dance music to "More" and "Unchained Melody" to clarify the rhythms, and won the gold at the 2015 Skate America followed by a silver at 2015 Cup of China. They then won the silver medal at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, behind Canadians Weaver/Poje.

In March, Chock/Bates won the bronze medal at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, having finished third behind Papadakis/Cizeron and Shibutani/Shibutani in both segments.

2016–17 season: Four Continents bronze

Chock/Bates began their season with silver medals at four international events, the 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, 2016 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial, 2016 Skate Canada International, and 2016 Rostelecom Cup. In December, they placed sixth in the short dance, fourth in the free, and sixth overall at the Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France. In January, they ranked second in the short dance and first in the free dance at the 2017 U.S. Championships, losing overall to the Shibutanis by 1.01.

Chock/Bates took the bronze medal at the 2017 Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, where they finished behind Canada's Virtue/Moir and the Shibutanis. They finished seventh overall (fourth in the short, eighth in the free) at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.