Figure skating-Americans Chock and Bates win Four Continents ice dance

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third Four Continents ice dance title in Colorado on Sunday after setting both free dance and overall career-best scores to edge Canadian pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen.

Performing to 'Souffrance' and 'Les Tectoniques', Chock and Bates, who led after the short programme on Friday, earned 133.14 points in the free dance to take their total to 220.81.

"A very pleasant surprise," Chock said. "It's a true testament to our training and our mental fortitude."

Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen also set personal best scores of 127.80 and 214.08 to take silver, while compatriots Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha won bronze with a total score of 200.

Chock and Bates also won the 2019 and 2020 titles in the competition, which features skates from outside of Europe.

The veteran pair, who won world championships bronze last year, underlined their status as favourites for next month's event in Saitama, Japan.

"This competition sets us up really well for the world championships and for our goal of winning worlds," Bates said.

"This programme has been a big learning experience ... We're getting more comfortable with it. This will certainly give us some confidence heading into worlds."