(26 January 2023)  Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the three-time World medalists, three-time U.S. champions and 2022 Olympic team silver medalists, have their sights set on successfully defending their national title at the 2023 U.S. Championships in San Jose.

This iconic dance duo, who have represented the U.S. at three Olympic Games so far, seem to be as poised as ever to accomplish this goal, something that certainly seems realistic based upon their incredible history together.

Regarded to be one of the finest dance teams to have ever graced the sport on both a domestic and global level, Chock and Bates have been a force at the elite competitive levels for over than a decade running based upon their superb artistic and technical standard, among other things; and in addition, have been nominated for the International Skating Union best costume, with their memorable Daft Punk alien-themed program.

For Chock and Bates, it’s about delivering the goods both technically and artistically, a goal they enjoy striving for and building upon every year.

“We’re excited to perform at the U.S. Championships,” said Chock, a Redondo Beach, California native who, with Bates, has been training with Marie France-Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer in Montreal since spring 2018. (Prior to that, they had been working with Igor Sphilband and Marina Zoueva in the Detroit suburban area.) “Every creative process is different year to year. We do pride ourselves on being different and creative each season, but it’s not the same formula.”

For Chock and Bates, who are skating to a remix of David Bowie’s famous 80s hit ‘Let’s Dance’ by Ben Liebrand for their short and to a medley of lovely musical selections by Jorane for their free dance this season, being open to the creative process on an ongoing basis.

“Every program takes some different turns and developments, so it’s being open to that process each season that keeps things fresh as well,” said Chock. “We love training and we love working.”

Bates agreed.

“I think one of the hardest things about longevity is reinvention, especially in ice dance, where material is very important,” said Bates, who hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan. “You want to follow up a few memorable free dances with more memorable free dances and I do think we have a standard for ourselves that we want to meet.”

Their drive and dedication is palpable and much of the reason as to why they have achieved so much throughout their skating careers thus far.  Ultimately, for Chock and Bates, the goal of striving to be their best has been the driving force for their skating.

“We have a very healthy relationship of goal setting with pushing ourselves and that’s come with the years of experience we have,” said Bates. “The stakes of winning a National title are always very high and we’re very much looking to be in San Jose. It’s where we had our first U.S. Championships together 10 or 11 years ago and we’ve got a lot of fond memories.”

Without a doubt, the chemistry among this duo is undeniable and something that has extended well outside of their skating with the announcement last summer of their engagement.

At this exciting juncture in their skating career and personal lives, Chock and Bates certainly seem to be at an optimal place on all fronts, something that definitely should permeate through their performances in San Jose.

“We are exactly where we want to be and need to be leading into the second half of the season,” said Chock. “We learned a lot through the Grand Prix [this season] and it was great to have this training time leading to Nationals to accomplish some goals we set for ourselves to make sure our program kept evolving the way we wanted to.”

When asked about their feelings in regard to the possibility of attaining a World Championship title, the two were resolute about this being both an inspiration and goal for the two of them.

“We’re confident with the work we’re putting in that hopefully that day will come in the future and hopefully that day will be this year,” said Bates.

With that, may the golden road continue to carry on for these two extraordinary individuals.