Chock and Bates Giving It Their All

It has been a dozen years since Madison Chock and Evan Bates teamed up and began a partnership that has taken them to all corners of the globe.
 
Since making their international debut at Finlandia Trophy back in autumn of 2011, Chock and Bates have amassed a resume that boasts three U.S. Championships titles, six Four Continents Championships medals, three World Championships podium finishes and a team medal from the most recent Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. All that is missing from their trophy case is a World Championships gold medal, which is partially what has motivated the off-ice couple to stick around for this post-Olympic season.
 
Battle worn from a grueling yet rewarding 2022 season, Chock and Bates took some time at the close of the Stars on Ice tour to recharge before shifting their attention to the new season. While attending the ISU Ordinary Council in Phuket, Thailand, in June, Bates asked Chock for her hand in marriage, giving the duo yet another reason to celebrate.
 
When they finally returned to Montreal to start preparations for the new competitive season, the affianced had been away from their training base for more than three months.
 
"The timetable for our preparation this season was a lot different and so it has been challenging in new ways for us," Chock shared. "We've had to adapt in the midst of the Grand Prix circuit and that's I think something that we've been able to manage because of our experience. We've been doing this for a long time, but it is something that's been new for us. We're used to having a really great base that we build over the summer and then we take that into a Challenger event and then we go to our Grand Prix events."
 
Chock and Bates delayed their season debut, skipping the early fall Challenger Series events, and opting to premier at Skate America in Norwood, Mass. Though they came away with their first Grand Prix title in seven years, it was evident that the 2022 U.S. Champions were not as prepared as they had been in previous seasons.
 
"We sort of had to fast track the evolution process this season and in order to do that we've had to rely heavily on our experience and our many years together skating as team," Chock explained. "We know we're in a good place and we have all of the tools that we need to accomplish our goals. The start of the season I think is just looked different for us than it has in years past just because of our late start which limited our preparation time."
 
The couple had just a month to prepare for their second Grand Prix event of the season — NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan, where they captured the silver medals. Though there were some bright spots in Japan, Chock and Bates were unable to earn the highest levels on their technical elements in the competition, which ultimately sealed their fate as runners up.
 
"I think it's really important to celebrate the little wins because they add up and if you don't take the time to recognize them you can get lost in a negative spiral," Chock said. "It's really important to just focus on what did go well and what are the great takeaways, and then carry all of that to help us build momentum and confidence to accomplish the goals that we have set for ourselves."
 
At the close of the series, Chock and Bates learned that they had secured a berth in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and would compete at the event for the sixth time in their storied career.
 
"Going into any competition our intention is to win and we're going to compete to win," Chock said of this week's competition. "Winning for us can mean many things – it doesn't necessarily just mean winning the gold, which of course is one of the intentions, but it can also mean showing the progress that we've made from the Grand Prix. Showing that our programs are something unique while staying true to ourselves is important to us, and we want to show people our love for skating, our love for the sport."
 
Between Skate America and NHK Trophy, the Grand Prix finalists made some significant changes to their free dance. Along with some music changes – they are now using tracks solely by French-Canadian singer/cellist Jorane – Chock and Bates have also shifted their intention specific to the character of the piece. At the core of the program, however, Chock is still portraying the spirit of fire while Bates is the spirit of air.
 
"We're still infusing a lot of ourselves into this program and still developing it, but we're very excited about the new direction," Bates shared. "We have decided to take a much more contemporary approach to our movements which is a different style of dance than we have done in the past. We are just fully embracing the evolution of this program."
 
With just over a week back at home between their trip to Japan and traveling to Torino, Italy, for the Final, Chock and Bates were very targeted in their training sessions in order to maximize the value that they could add to their programs.
 
"The biggest question that we asked ourselves was that we're home and we're jet lagged, and we have eight days on the ice. What are we going to do in that time?" Bates pondered. "We made a list of potential changes and prioritized them. We took on what we knew we could accomplish in limited time. It's not a fun feeling to be changing choreography like 48 hours before you get on the plane, so we were very strategic. I wouldn't call it a scramble, but we've certainly been reorganizing things to further develop our programs."
 
Neither athlete felt particularly alarmed about the current state of their programs. Instead, Chock and Bates see this as a natural progression that is typical of their development throughout a season.
 
"We always go through this process but usually it's in summertime," Bates explained. "One of the lessons that we've learned is to be to be gentle with ourselves knowing that we're doing our absolute best and really trusting the team around us, ourselves and our experience. We know that despite some unexpected results and perhaps an underwhelming Grand Prix, that we can still reach our ultimate goal at the end of the season."
 
When the curtain comes down on this week's Final, Chock and Bates will shift their attention to the second half of the season. The couple knows what is in store for them when they get back to Montreal – hard work, and they are up for it. With just six weeks to go before the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Chock and Bates will keep their heads down and train.
 
"We're looking forward to really developing the programs and really being in one place for almost two months which will give us the time to build and grow and push ourselves to make the programs what we know they can become," said Bates. "We still have some growing to do and that's been something that we've quickly learned this season and have always embraced. In order to accomplish the lofty goals we've set for ourselves, we have to open ourselves up to potential that we knew we had but haven't quite tapped into yet. I think that's where we are right now, and it's been fun and challenging. We are working harder than we've ever worked and we know that there's more to give. The only way to go is up and that's where we are looking to go."