Netflix’s “Glitter & Gold” profiles the top three ice skating teams heading to Milan for the Winter Olympics.
Audrey Weisiger talks about the skaters of Flight 5342
Olympic figure skating coach Audrey Weissiger spoke to Christine Brennan at Milan Magic about the children who lost their lives on Flight 5342 last year.
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The heated ice dancing rivalry is just getting started, so start your obsession with the next Winter Olympics with Glitter & Gold on Netflix.
The four-part series (now streaming) follows a melodramatic look at the top three couples, including married Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as they battle for a spot on the medal podium at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, which opens on February 6th.
Director Katie Walsh (Simone Biles Rising) followed the team through a difficult 10 months before the Olympics, leading up to the Grand Prix Final in December. This binge-worthy series sets up the Olympics almost as the series finale.
“People are really into ice dancing because of the drama, the storytelling on the ice, and these partnerships,” Walsh told USA TODAY. “The relationships underlying these partnerships create intrigue and connect us. We can all empathize with being inherently tied to others to succeed.”
I would like to introduce the drama “Glitter & Gold” here.
Madison Chock makes a statement in a stunning but dangerous matador skirt
The American team known as Chock and Bates, or Maddie and Evan, will win your heart with their pre-performance make-up routine as the husband-and-wife duo fight for bathroom mirror space. Or when I’m walking my two toy poodles together.
“Their lives are completely intertwined and everything they do is shared,” Walsh says. “They’re real and they’re a great couple.”
Due to the wipeout, the duo finished in a disappointing fourth place at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Although the US team won the gold medal, the couple still has not been able to discuss the pair’s results. But the three-time World Figure Skating Championship winner will ride into Milan as the favorite to win.
Beyond the cutthroat competitive arena, another potential speedbump seen throughout the series is Chock’s obsession with flowing matador skirts during the couple’s bullfighting-themed routine. While beautiful, the often-altered skirts caused on-ice accidents when the material caught on Bates’ skates.
“It really created tension for them and for us as viewers. Even I was holding my breath and covering my eyes,” Walsh says of the costume issue. “I was watching them in early January when they finished filming, and they seemed to have it under control. But it’s a variable.”
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are best friends on the Canadian team
Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will be competing in their third Winter Olympics, aiming for their first medals. Gilles, who represented the United States before becoming a Canadian citizen to pair up with Poirier, will be 31 in 2023, facing the death of her mother and her own battle with ovarian cancer.
“First her mother died of cancer, and then Piper was diagnosed with cancer on her birthday,” Walsh said.
Gilles is currently cancer-free and is competing against Poirier, who came out as gay ahead of the 2021 Beijing Olympics.
“They are very supportive friends and Piper was there for Paul when he needed time off to be fully himself on the ice,” Walsh says. “I can see the friendship developing further.”
“Glitter & Gold” features a fully mic’d tearjerker moment as the duo deals with the heartbreaking sadness of a bad score at an important event.
“It’s great that they put us in that moment of disappointment, because it’s a really true moment and a reflection of them as human beings,” Walsh says.
Laurence Fournier Baudry and Guillaume Cizeron are a wild card couple from France
Just when it looked like upstart teams from the United States and Canada would compete for the gold medal in 2026, a new ice dance force has entered the scene from France. Laurence Fournier Baudry (former partner of Nicolai Sorensen), considered one of the greatest ice dancers of all time, previously teamed up with the retired Guillaume Cizeron. In this series, the two try to come together as a team within a year leading up to the Olympics.
“It’s completely unprecedented to have a new team competing for a medal, let alone a gold medal, in a sport that is somewhat predictable,” Walsh said. “I don’t think something like this will happen again, but it certainly will shake up the standings here.”
Bewdley and Cizeron are dealing with mistakes such as choosing Depeche Mode’s song ‘Personal Jesus’ for a ’90s music contest and suddenly having to change the music after realizing the song was released in 1989. There’s also a wardrobe malfunction when Bewdley’s skirt leads to a fall during an important contest.
Meanwhile, Chock and Evans take on the couple’s challenge in the series.
“They really have to step up their game early on,” Walsh said. “So let’s see what happens in Milan.”
No matter which couple ends up on the Olympic podium, ‘Glitter & Gold’ is the perfect introduction to the Olympics
“So when you watch the Olympics, your focus will be completely on these six people and those three teams,” Walsh said. “Then I hope you’re happy no matter what happens.”
