"As Olympic ice dancers swirl across our TV screens this week, we get to play another round of everyone's favorite figure-skating game: Are they or aren't they dating? I'll give you one free answer to this Milan Cortina pop quiz: Team USA's gold medal hopefuls, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, got married in 2024. But the answer to ice dancing's perpetual are-they-or-aren't-they question isn't always so straightforward."
"Since the beginning of time, ice dancers have been rewarded by judging panels for playing up a romantic narrative regardless of their actual romantic status. Some duos pretend they're dating when they're really not. Some pretend they aren't dating when they actually are (or are tipping in that direction). Some have broken up, but still manage to skate together, fueled by all that water (OK, ice) under the bridge."
Ice dancing frequently provokes speculation about partners' romantic lives, with judges rewarding romantic storytelling regardless of real relationships. Madison Chock and Evan Bates married in 2024. Some teams feign romance, some hide real relationships, and some continue to skate together after breakups. Skaters sometimes have romantic partners outside their competitive duos and some have come out as LGBTQ+. Same-sex teams are gaining acceptance but remain ineligible for Olympic team categories. Sibling teams exist separately from dating dynamics; one skater partnered with her older brother Brad for 11 years, trained broadly, and competed at national championships.
Read at Slate Magazine
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