Madison Chock

Personal life

Madison La'akea Te-Lan Hall Chock was born in Redondo Beach, California. She attended Novi High School. She is of Chinese-Hawaiian descent on her father's side, and German, English, Irish, French, and Dutch descent on her mother Barbara Hall's side, who once released a single back in Jan. 1973 in Japan. La'akea means "sacred light from heaven" and Te-Lan (特蘭) means "special or unique orchid."

Early years

Madison Chock began skating at the age of five, after becoming interested by watching it on TV with her parents. Ice dancing was suggested to her at the age of 12 and she found she enjoyed it, although she initially had no interest in dance. She also tried pair skating and took all the tests through to intermediate level.

Chock skated for one season with Kurt Lingenfelter on the intermediate level. They won the pewter medal at the 2006 U.S. Junior Championships.

Partnership with Zuerlein

Chock teamed up with Zuerlein in June 2006. They placed 5th in the novice division at the 2007 U.S. Championships. They began working with Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva in 2007. Chock/Zuerlein were assigned to the 2007–08 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Tallinn, Estonia, which they won. They won the bronze medal at their second event, qualifying them for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, where they placed 5th.

During the 2008–09 season, Chock/Zuerlein won gold at the Junior Grand Prix Final and at the U.S. Junior Championships. They capped off the season by becoming World Junior champions.

In 2009–10, Chock/Zuerlein made their senior Grand Prix debut, finishing 6th and 8th at the 2009 Skate America and the 2009 Cup of China, respectively. They placed 5th in their senior national debut.

Chock/Zuerlein won their first senior Grand Prix medal, bronze, at the 2010 Skate Canada International. They won a second bronze medal at the 2010 Trophée Éric Bompard. They won their first senior national medal, bronze, at the 2011 U.S. Championships. They made the team to the Four Continents where they finished 5th. They finished 9th in their first and only appearance at the World Championships, setting personal best scores in both segments of the competition.

On June 7, 2011, Chock and Zuerlein announced the end of their five-year partnership; Zuerlein retired from competition while Chock said she intended to continue competing.

Partnership with Bates

On July 1, 2011, Chock and Evan Bates announced their partnership and said they would continue to work with Shpilband and Zueva. They finished 4th at the 2012 Skate Canada International and 5th at the 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard. They were 5th at the 2012 U.S. Championships. After Zueva and Shpilband ended their coaching partnership, Chock/Bates were the first team to announce that they would continue training with Shpilband.

Chock/Bates finished 4th at the 2012 U.S. International Classic and then won gold at the 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy. They then competed at the 2012 Cup of China and finished 4th. At the 2013 U.S. Nationals, Chock/Bates were able to win the silver medal ahead of Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani. They were named in the U.S. team to the 2013 Four Continents where they won the bronze medal. At the 2013 World Championships, they finished 7th overall. Chock/Bates competed at the 2013 World Team Trophy and placed first in ice dance, helping Team USA win the team gold for the first time since 2009.

In the 2013–14 season, Chock/Bates were assigned to two Grand Prix events, the 2013 Cup of China and 2013 Rostelecom Cup, and won bronze at both. They won the silver medal at the 2014 U.S. Championships and were named in the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

In the 2014–15 season, Chock/Bates took silver at the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series event, and then won both their Grand Prix events at the 2014 Skate America and 2014 Rostelecom Cup. The team went on to win the silver at the 2014–15 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and a month later, won their first senior national title at the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Chock and Bates later took silver at the 2015 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships before capping off the season with a second-place finish at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships.

In the 2015–16 season, Chock/Bates won gold at the 2015 Nebelhorn Trophy, again an ISU Challenger Series event. At the event, they received comments that "Dark Eyes" was not suitable for a polka rhythm.They changed the short dance music to "More" and "Unchained Melody" to clarify the rhythms, and won the gold at the 2015 Skate America followed by a silver at 2015 Cup of China. They then won the silver medal at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, behind Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix