The Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates became the first ice dancers to win three consecutive world championships in almost three decades on Saturday night, and the Americans clung to the first place with their free jazz skate after a strong performance of the 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 consecutive year with 216.54. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson landed on the podium in third place, winning the first world medal of Great Britain since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean finished their streak of four consecutive ice dance titles in 1984.
Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov were the last to win three in a row, triumphing four consecutive times for Russia from 1994 to 97.
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“When we got here, we were not thinking of a three -wheel or any type of title defense. It was an independent event,” Bates said. “We were as prepared as we could, and we skated as well as we could have done it.”
Americans and Canadians have dominated ice dance in recent years, winning six of the nine medals awarded in the last three years.
The rivalry between Chock, Bates and Gilles and Poirier teams has become one of the most intense in recent years, and this year had the additional spice of geopolitical tension among their respective countries.
The Piper Gilles and Pairier Poirier silver medalists in Canada, the gold medalists Madison Chocck and Evan Bates of the United States and the Lilah Farm and Lewis Gibson bronze medalists of Great Britain Pose for a photo after medaling in the ice dance during the 2025 figurative skating championship in the 2025 Garden in the TD garden in Boston March 29, 2025. (Maddie Meyer/Getty images)
The United States and Canada are involved in an unprecedented commercial war after President Donald Trump imposed a series of tariffs against Canada, which caused retaliation rates in response.
The tension of the current commercial war has been shed in sports.
The sports tension was first exposed during the 4 -nations confrontation tournament of the NHL from February 12 to 20. Fans in Canada booed the US national anthem. While the United States fans booed the Canadian national anthem before multiple games.
It began on February 13, when Canadian fans in Montreal booed the United States national anthem after Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canada and suggest that the country should become the state 51 of the United States.
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The boo caused fights among Canadian and American players at the first meeting of the tournament between the two teams on February 15. The United States won that game 3-1.
The Canadian national anthem was booed in TD Garden in Boston before a set of 4 nations between Canada and Finland.
The United States and Canada met in the final of February 20, and American fans in Boston again booed the Canadian national anthem, although with a lighter tone. Canada won the game in extra time, 3-2.
Since then, hostile rhetoric between the two countries, even in sports, has only intensified. The NHL games involving teams based in Canada and the United States have often presented Boom during the previous game National hymns of the visiting team.
Fans of WWE elimination chamber In Toronto he booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the event. Star Sports Pat Mcafee commentator criticized Canadian fans to boo and the country as a whole in response during Peacock transmission.
“It is a bit stinky that it is in the terrible country of Canada that booed our national anthem to start all this,” Mcafee shouted at the transmission table.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States act during the World Artistic Skating Championships in TD Garden in Boston on March 28, 2025. (Jurij Kodrun/International Skating Union/International Skating Union through Getty Images)
Mcafee has said since then he has He received death threats against his little daughter for the comments.
Canadian male soccer coach Jesse Marsch criticized Trump for his comments from the “51st State”, calling them “insulting.” During the media day of the Concacaf Nations League, Marsch said he was “ashamed” how the president had insulted Canada.
“If I have a message for our president, he is saying goodbye to the ridiculous rhetoric that Canada is state 51,” said Marsch. “As a American, I am ashamed of arrogance and contempt, we have shown one of our historically older, stronger and loyal allies. But one thing is safe: when I look forward to a month from now on, this will feed our team. The mentality we have, the will we have to play for our country.”
NHL legend Wayne Gretzky He has also been criticized by other Canadians for his apparent support for Trump, who recently said he had asked Gretzky to become the next “Governor of Canada” after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would resign.
After Gretzky expressed his support for “Canada that remains a separate country, instead of becoming a appreciated and beautiful state.” Trump told Gretzky a “free agent.”
Gold medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States celebrate after winning the World Dance World Championship during the ISU World Skating Championship in 2025 in TD Garden in Boston on March 29, 2025. (Maddie Meyer/Getty images)
Now, the United States has obtained a victory in the greatest sports rivalry for courtesy of Bates and Chopk, but bets will be higher in the Winter Games in Milan Cortina next year.
Chock and Bates were part of the American team that won the gold of the team in the 2022 games in Beijing after a long research on Russian doping. But, despite all their success, Chock and Bates have never stopped on an Olympic podium in the ice dance, ending in fourth place three years ago.
“I think the Olympic season certainly has a different weight from the other three years,” Chock said. “You have this incredible opportunity to reach the entire world, and it really makes it special because it amplifies our voices inside and outside the ice.”
