Madison Chock and Evan Bates became Olympic champions as boyfriend and girlfriend. But now they are finally getting their hardware as husband and wife.
The ice dancers had been dating for more than five years when they competed at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The US figure skating team initially finished second during those Olympics. But after Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, an investigation was launched, calling the country’s gold into question.
During the two and a half years that followed, Chock (32) and Bates (35) became engaged, and at the beginning of the summer they married.
On August 7, they were finally presented with their medals — now adjusted to gold as Valieva received a four-year ban from the sport — during a ceremony in Paris during the 2024 Summer Games.
“We’ve been skating together for 13 years,” Bates told PEOPLE on Aug. 7 at the Team USA home in Paris. “We’ve known each other for 18 years. This is my best friend, my partner on and off the ice. And growing up, this is what every skater dreams of, winning an Olympic gold medal.”
He adds, “And to do it for Team USA makes it extra special.”
Evan Bates and Madison Chock.
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Chock and Bates — along with their American teammates Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue — received their gold medals alongside Team Japan’s silver medalists on Aug. 7 . The ceremony was held against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower.
“Our team was so bonded and so connected throughout the whole thing that when we all reconnected in Paris, it was so much fun,” says Bates.
The couple tells PEOPLE that this trip to Paris is “definitely a second honeymoon, which was a bonus we didn’t expect.”
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Madison Chock and Evan Bates in Paris.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
PEOPLE had the exclusive when Bates and Chock tied the knot in a romantic seaside wedding in Hawaii on Thursday, June 20.
“We got married on Oahu in June and it was absolutely perfect,” Bates reflects now.
Jokes about married gold medalist status: “That’s amazing. Mr. and Mrs. Gold Medal.”
To find out more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com and check out the live coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympic newsletter, to deliver the biggest stories from the Games straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics starting July 26 on NBC and Peacock.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education