All About Olympic Figure Skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ Relationship

Madison Chock and Evan Bates were childhood friends who became figure skating partners long before they started dating

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.Credit : 

Lintao Zhang – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty; Mike Marsland/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Madison Chock and Evan Bates met as teenagers in the Michigan ice skating community
The Olympic ice dancers began skating together in 2011 and began dating five years later in 2016
The couple wed in 2024 and share two toy poodles

Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ relationship is a romance book brought to life.

The pair, who met as teenagers in Michigan’s figure skating community, were partners on the ice long before their relationship turned romantic. After publicly revealing their romance in 2017, they got engaged in 2022 and married in 2024.

Today, the couple are competing in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games, where they’ve already taken home a gold medal in the team event. They attribute their success to “chemistry” — on and off the ice.

“That has always been the case, even before we were dating,” Bates told PEOPLE in February 2022. “We sort of would look at each other and smile.”

Here’s everything to know about Olympic ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ relationship.

They met as teenagers

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.Tang Xinyu/VCG via Getty

Bates and Chock met as children in Michigan’s ice skating community, when Chock moved to the area at 12 years old, per NBC Sports.

They went on their first date to Bahama Breeze for Chock’s 16th birthday, she told Today. However, their romance initially fizzled after a few dates.

Chock and Bates became partners in 2011

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.Joosep Martinson – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty

Bates began his competitive career as a solo skater but transitioned to pair skating with Emily Samuelson from 2000 to 2011. Meanwhile, Chock competed in pairs with Greg Zuerlein from 2006 until he retired in 2011. When Chock needed a new partner, the two decided to pair up.

“We go through everything together; all the highs and all lows,” Chock told PEOPLE in February 2018. “You just really have to be on the same page and have the same goals and the same work ethic, which we are fortunate to have, and it works really well.”

They didn’t start dating until 2016

Years later in January 2026, the now-married couple opened up to PEOPLE about the early days of their relationship and when it turned into romance.

“It took a while, actually,” Bates said. “We had already been skating together for five years, and we had been friends for 10 years already. I think just going through the highs and lows of skating and the pressure of just trying to always be your best, and it really brought us together.”

Bates added that he and Chocks began feeling “the romantic pull” when they were struggling with their performances on the ice. “We really leaned on each other in those times,” he recalled.

Their romance has strengthened their partnership on ice

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.PAUL MILLER / AFP via Getty

Chock and Bates’ romance has made their skating even stronger. “It definitely helps,” Bates told PEOPLE in September 2025. “It’s not always easy — we’re pushing ourselves hard to be our very best — but at the same time, the foundation is that we’re best friends.”

He continued, “We’ve known each other for 20 years, we’ve been a couple for 10 years and now husband and wife for just over a year. I think the trust is there, the friendship is there and that’s what is the strongest part of our relationship.”

The inverse is true, too. In February 2022, Bates told PEOPLE that his and Chock’s shared love for the sport has enriched their relationship.

“We are so lucky because we have this thing that we share, this ice dance that’s our own little corner of the universe,” he said. “And it’s something that we together get to pour everything into. We’re super passionate about it. We push each other, we inspire each other, we share ideas, we go back and forth. It’s our job, but it doesn’t feel like our job.”

Chock and Bates married in 2024

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.Jurij Kodrun – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty

In June 2022, Bates proposed to Chock during a vacation in Phuket, Thailand. Two years later on June 20, 2024, the couple tied the knot in a romantic seaside wedding in Hawaii, as Chock’s parents were born and raised there. Guests included Olympic figure skaters like Adam Rippon, Meryl Davis and Alexa Knierim.

For their nuptials, the couple went with a “tropical wedding theme,” incorporating several Hawaiian traditions — like a lei exchange and music popular to the state — into their big day.

“The leis represent unity and the coming together of separate elements to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts,” Chock told PEOPLE. “In marriage, you come together as individuals to create a partnership together.”

In January 2026, Bates told PEOPLE about how marriage has shifted their perspectives going into the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

“Skating was always the main focus, but as we’ve gotten older, I think the relationship has become the main focus,” he said. “Skating obviously is still the main focus, but skating is kind of like our means of strengthening ourselves and our relationship and going through all the experiences of life together, and so the appreciation for the partnership has grown.”

Chock and Bates compete in the Olympics together

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.Michael Reaves/Getty

Chock and Bates have competed in numerous elite competitions together, with the Olympic Games being the most prestigious of all. The pair made their Olympic debut in Sochi in 2014, and four years later, they returned for the 2018 Games in PyeongChang.

It wasn’t until the 2022 Olympics in Beijing that Chock and Bates earned a gold medal in a team event. They repeated that success with a gold medal in the team event in the 2026 Games.

Chock and Bates have also won seven gold medals, six silver medals and one bronze medal at the U.S. National Championships, among other awards.

They share two dogs

Evan Bates and their two dogs.Madison Chock/Instagram

Chock and Bates share two toy poodles, Henry and Stella.

“As the story goes, Henry chose Madison, and Madison chose Henry,” Bates told Nulo. “Madison had always wanted a dog of her own and specifically had the name Henry in mind. Henry’s middle name is Tiberius because he just seemed like he deserved a really interesting middle name,” he added.

Chock continued, “Stella has been part of Evan’s family since she was born from his parents’ dog, and Evan took her in when Stella was two years old after his brother and sister-in-law grew their family of humans.”

Madison Chock and Evan Bates.Madison Chock/Instagram

While Chock and Bates went on their first date as teenagers, they didn’t start officially dating until 2016 — and they waited a year to make their relationship status public.

“I pretty much told Maddie that I loved her,” he recalled to Today in February 2018. “Last year I told [her] how I really felt, and that changed things a lot.”