They Were Favorites… Then the Tears Fell”: Madison Chock & Evan Bates Break Down After Shocking Silver Finish That No One Saw Coming

Madison Chock and Evan Bates can’t help feeling like their silver medal in ice dancing is “bittersweet.”

Chock, 33, and Bates, 36, finished in second place in ice dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on Feb. 11, an upgrade after they just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the event in Beijing in 2022 — but a tough pill to swallow for the pair, who were crying throughout their interviews with media after the event.

The married couple — who tied the knot in June 2024 — fell short to France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, who narrowly beat their score of 224.39 by 1.43 points. Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier came in third, with 217.74 points total.

“It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling at the moment,” Chock, who had to compose herself several times while speaking to reporters, including PEOPLE, said.

“We really did our best, and I think that is something that we’ll try to remember and focus on most right now, is that we really did our best,” Bates added.

When asked how they felt about the scoring, Bates said said they felt they skated their “season’s best” on Wednesday night.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates during the ice dance free dance final on Feb. 11, 2026.JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP via Getty

“I feel like life is sometimes you can feel like you do everything right and it doesn’t go your way and that’s that’s life and that’s sport and it’s a subjective sport, it’s a judged sport, but I think one fact that is indisputable is that we delivered our best, we skated our best, we did our season’s best almost every single time,” he said. “And the rest is not up to us, but I think that’s — we felt like we were very close. We felt like we skated a winning performance, but… and that’s what we came here to do. “

Chock and Bates secured their second-place finish with a free dance to “Paint it Black,” and nailed a number of elements including synchronized twizzles, rotational lift and choreographic sliding movement.

The performance came two days after their Lenny Kravitz-set rhythm dance, which put them in second place behind Beaudry and Cizeron heading into the final night.

The silver is their first individual Olympic medal of their careers, and their second medal of the 2026 Games; they shared their most recent gold win with Ilia Malinin, Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, Danny O’Shea and Ellie Kam in the team event.

“We had so much fun,” Chock said on Feb. 9 of performing in the rhythm dance portion of the team event with Bates, whom she married in 2024. “We felt really comfortable when we got out on the ice tonight, as comfortable as you can be when you’re performing and in competition mode… We’re really happy with how we performed, and we’re going to bring that feeling forward.

Asked whether they had any changes planned for the free dance, Chock said the pair was “locked in.”

“We know ourselves, we know our routine, and we got this,” she said.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates at a gala in New York City in April 2022.Arturo Holmes/Getty

Bates, meanwhile, discussed his health in a press conference before he competed, saying there’s “mileage on the body” at 36 years old, but nothing he can’t handle.

“We’ve been really smart and intentional with our training this year, limiting the number of reps on things like lifts that could potentially cause a problem,” he said. ““We have found a great balance between pushing and prioritizing recovery and health. We’re feeling good heading into the Games.”

The couple made their Olympics debut in 2014, though this year’s Games marks their first as a married couple.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.