COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Madison Chock and Evan Bates have become so dominant in ice dance that not even a sudden illness could stop them Saturday.
Two days after they began developing flu-like symptoms, the longtime figure skating partners took to the ice and laid down a free dance at the U.S. championships that was good enough for gold. Chock and Bates scored 215.92 points to easily outdistance Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko for their third straight title and fifth overall.
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“I think Evan and I have always had a lot of determination and willpower,” Chock said, “and we thought, ‘Would we regret not going for it and just trying our best today?’ And when the answer to that question was, ‘Yes,’ we were like, ‘OK, let’s go make it happen. Let’s step out there and give it all we’ve got.’ We did that today and I’m really proud.”
Carreira and Ponomarenko actually outscored the reigning world champions in the free skate to finish with 210.04 points, while Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville leaped over Caroline Green and Michael Parsons to take the bronze medal.