Madison Chock and Evan Bates win silver medal for Team USA in Olympic ice dance at Milan Cortina Games

CNN host Audie Cornish and New York Magazine's Will Leitch suggested during a recent podcast that the U.S. could become the ‘global villain’ of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

United States figure skating pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates secured the silver medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, finishing with a total score of 224.39 after notching a 134.67 score in their free dance Wednesday night.

Chock and Bates, the married couple who have been skating together for over a decade, were beaten out for gold by French pairing Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, who scored a 135.64 in the free dance for a total of 225.82.

It was the pairing’s best score to date, and it was needed to edge out Chock and Bates, the pair who won the U.S. its 12th medal at the Games thus far.

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Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States react to seeing their scores earned them the silver medal after competing during the ice dancing free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Finishing in third place for the bronze medal was the emotional Canadian pair of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who were ecstatic seeing their final score of 217.74 after a 131.56 free dance result to put them in podium position.

A second U.S. group of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, making their Olympic debut, finished fifth with a total 206.72 points.

Chock and Bates were trailing the French couple by 0.46 of a point entering the free dance Wednesday night, and they were searching for their first ice dance Olympic medal with hopes that it would obviously be gold.

Their matador routine, dancing to a rendition of The Rolling Stones’ "Paint