Chock and Bates say their near-perfect skate felt like a win, even when silver left followers ‘confused’
MILAN (AP) — U.S. ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates didn’t conceal their disappointment Thursday on the bittersweet Olympic silver medal for what Bates referred to as their “very best efficiency,” whereas Chock mentioned the confusion over the consequence “does a disservice to our sport.”
Throughout Wednesday evening’s free dance on the Milan Cortina Olympics, French skaters Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron earned a season-best 225.82 factors to win gold regardless of a number of errors by Cizeron, together with a evident one throughout a twizzle sequence.
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Chock and Bates additionally delivered a season-best efficiency with an almost good skate, ending with 224.39 factors.
Chock mentioned skaters, coaches and followers deserved extra readability concerning the outcomes.
“Any time the general public is confused by outcomes, it does a disservice to our sport,” Chock mentioned. “I believe it’s exhausting to retain followers when it’s obscure what is going on on the ice. … Folks want to grasp what they’re cheering for and have the ability to really feel assured within the sport that they’re supporting.”
That is the fourth Olympics for three-time reigning world champions, who’ve been skating collectively for 15 years and acquired married in 2024. They mentioned they had been nonetheless figuring out their future plans, together with whether or not to defend their world title in Prague subsequent month.
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“TBD,” Chock mentioned.
Bates mentioned they hadn’t studied the scores, which included a French choose favoring the French skater by practically eight factors within the free dance, whereas 5 of the 9 judges favored the American crew. The opposite three that gave high marks to Beaudry and Cizeron did so by a slim margin.
“We did converse to our coach, and we did discuss to one another, and we all know how we felt on middle ice after we skated,” he mentioned. “We felt like we delivered our very best efficiency that we may have. It was our Olympic second. It felt like a successful skate to us and that’s what we’re going to carry on to.”
Bates mentioned fan help was “unbelievable,” and he famous an internet petition calling on the Worldwide Skating Union and the Worldwide Olympic Committee to research the scoring.
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“We haven’t truly seen it, we’ve simply heard about it, but it surely means quite a bit that individuals are voicing their opinions on our behalf,” Bates mentioned. “I believe the best way that we skated and the best way we’ve approached chasing these objectives hopefully has resonated with individuals at residence, and even in our response I believe hopefully that can also mirror the Olympic spirit.”
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
