U.S. Olympic Ice Dancers Madison Chock & Evan Bates Receive Gold Medals More Than Two Years After Competition After Russia’s Disqualification

On Wednesday, U.S. ice dancers and married couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates received gold medals as part of the reallocation ceremony for the Olympic figure skating team.

Chock and Bates competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. figure skating team initially finished in second place until it was found that Russian skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for Trimetazidine, a substance banned by the games.

“Honestly, it feels unreal at the moment,” Chock told NBC. “It’s surreal. We’re just looking out at the Eiffel Tower, and every time I look at it, I just have to pinch myself because we’re here, and I can’t believe that it’s really happening. After two-and-a-half years of waiting, we’re getting our Olympic gold medal, and not just anywhere, we’re getting it under the Eiffel Tower at a Summer Olympics.”

Bates shared a similar sentiment about the long-awaited ceremony.

“I think it’s kind of the best-case scenario in an otherwise, sometimes challenging situation,” he said. “We’re so grateful that we still get to have the Olympic medal ceremony. It has been worth the wait. I think it’s really, really exciting. Everybody’s here. The energy in Paris is just absolutely incredible. We’ve never been to a summer Games before, so it’s really fun for us to be here.”

Chock and Bates have had an exciting summer. The couple tied the knot in June in Hawaii. Bates said that week was the “best” of his life, with receiving a gold medal a close second.

“I don’t think I’ve ever hugged so many people as I did in that one day,” he said about his wedding. “It was so nice, obviously being in Hawaii and being in that setting, but also like everybody had a huge smile on their faces. That was just genuine joy and happiness for us, and being there to support us.”