American ice dancers Chock and Bates talk about balancing marriage and career
Team USA ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates spoke to USA TODAY Sports about how they balance their marriage and successful skating careers.
take sports seriously
- Four-time Olympian Madison Chock’s family roots are in Hawaii.
- Chock started skating after being inspired by fellow California native and Asian American athlete Michelle Kwan.
- She and her ice dancing partner Evan Bates are three-time world champions and seven-time national champions.
- Chock and Bates, who recently married in Hawaii, are aiming for their first Olympic medal in ice dancing.
Editor’s note: Follow live updates on Olympic figure skating and results from the 2026 Winter Games.
MILAN – Holding a panda in her hand, 5-year-old Madison Chock declared to her cousin,
“I’m going to the Olympics!” she shouted.
A very ambitious kid, his parents Wes and Barbara Chock definitely had a laugh. They never imagined that the joy of figure skating, which they started “long before she was born,” would eventually capture their daughter’s attention. She had just started learning to skate and had already announced it to her family.
But flash forward some 28 years later, and it’s clear that it wasn’t some juvenile wishful thinking. The strength of will and ferocity he displays on the ice has been there for a long time.
Chock said he was going to the Olympics. Well, what about four people?
“It’s been an amazing journey,” Barbara Chock told USA TODAY Sports.
Watch Olympic figure skating at Peacock
An ice dance journey that begins in an unexpected place, Hawaii.
Wes is an island native, born on a big island, lived on Maui and Oahu, and eventually met Barbara on a plane. She moved to Hawaii, danced hula, and was a backup singer for Don Ho, one of Hawaii’s leading singers.
They moved to California, where Madison was born, but continued to ingrain Hawaiian culture in their daughter’s life, starting with middle names Lakea (Hawaiian for divine light from heaven) and Teran (Chinese for unique orchid) in honor of her background.
Although she was not a kamaaina (Hawaii resident), Madison loved visiting and connecting with the islands. Grandma, grandpa, and all my cousins were there. Wes visited often, and Madison always accompanied him and was at the beach “all the time,” his father said.
“She just grew up loving Hawaii,” Barbara said. “We want to go to every opportunity we can.”
Madison spent countless hours connecting with her roots, getting used to the sand and waves of Hawaii, and watching something special build on the mainland ice.
Her interest in figure skating was drawn to Michelle Kwan, a pioneering Asian American athlete also from California. Madison asked her mother, “Can you tell me that?” I really couldn’t do it, so I made her take lessons.
It was clear early on that something was different. Even when other children cried or didn’t enjoy studying, Madison never complained. She just wanted more. Classes that used to be held once a week suddenly became six days a week.
“I said, ‘Oh, she looks different on the ice. She’s just gliding on the ice. Her arms were so clean,'” Barbara said. “I told Wes that’s different.”
That ultimately led to the Chocks moving to Michigan to pursue ice dancing, but it was anything but a normal move. Madison arrived safely in her new home state, but her parents took turns watching over her while the other went back to California and packed her belongings.
The madness didn’t stop there. Wes and Barbara moved their jobs to Chicago instead of the Midwest. That meant commuting from the Detroit area to Chicago for work in order for Madison to further advance her ice dancing career.
All the sacrifices were worth it. By the time she was 17, she and her partner Greg Zuerlein had won Junior Grand Prix, World Championship, and United States Championship. His partnership with Evan Bates began in 2011, and together they became one of the greatest American ice dancing pairs of all time.
Three-time world champion. Three-time Grand Prix Champion. A record seven-time U.S. champion. A historic figure skater, but never forgetting what shaped her.
During their dominant seasons in 2014 and 2015, Chock and Bates skated at Honolulu’s Ice Palace, the only ice rink in the state, showcasing their talent in a place unknown for figure skating. Chock also got to meet the young skaters she inspired, and many looked forward to meeting her, Wes recalled.
“I take my Hawaiian roots very seriously,” Chock said. “They are very near and dear to my heart.”
It was the perfect place for couples to get married. They married in 2024 at the Lanikuhonua Cultural Institute on Oahu’s west side. Throughout this time, Bates quickly learned how connected the people of the island were. In true Hawaiian Ohana fashion, Chock’s cousin manages the links.
“I feel like there are chocks all over Hawaii,” Bates said.
Chocks and Hawaii will be watching the 2026 Winter Olympics, but her fourth trip is expected to be her last since she was planning to compete. With the team gold medal they won Sunday night, Chock and Bates are now on their way to the only honor missing from their illustrious careers: an Olympic ice dance medal. The chance of winning a gold medal is very high.
Barbara said her experience in Milan-Cortina will be bittersweet. Of course, Barbara and Wes are proud of everything their daughter has accomplished. But most of all, “we’re most proud of her for being such a lovely, lovely person.”
The two have said multiple times that they feel they are hitting their stride at the right time. They’re not saying this is the end, but if it were, it would be the perfect ending.
If they win their coveted Olympic ice dancing medal, what better way to celebrate than by returning to the island? Now that married life has made the island feel a little more like home to Bates, he’s confident he’ll be spending a lot more time there.
The Milan Ice Skating Arena will be the stage where Chock will demonstrate the determination and fierce spirit he has carried since he vowed to take to this stage. A stage that showcases the cultural background that shaped her has guided her every step of the way.
“I’m very happy to be a part of it, and I’m really happy to be able to combine Hawaii and winter sports,” Chock said. “It means a lot to us to be able to showcase and represent Hawaii on the ice.”
