American ice dancers defeat Canadian rivals for championship as tensions between countries continue

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Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates became the first ice dancers to win three consecutive world championships in nearly three decades Saturday night, and the Americans were holding onto first place with their jazzy free skate after a strong performance by Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

Chock and Bates finished with 222.06 points, while Gilles and Poirier took the silver medal for the second straight year with 216.54. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson landed on the podium in third, earning Britain’s first world medal since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean finished their run of four straight ice dance titles in 1984.

Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov were the last to win three in a row, triumphing four straight times for Russia from 1994-97.

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"Coming in here, we weren’t thinking about a three-peat or any type of title defense. It was a standalone event," Bates said. "We were as prepared as we could possibly be, and we skated as well as we could have."

The Americans and Canadians have dominated ice dance in recent years, winning six of the nine medals awarded in the past three years. 

The rivalry between the teams of Chock and Bates and Gilles and Poirier has become one of the most intense in recent years, and this year had the added spice of geopolitical tension between their respective countries. 

Silver medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada, gold medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States and bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis