Madison Chock and Evan Bates within striking distance of Olympic gold

Madison Chock and Evan Bates remain firmly in the hunt for Olympic ice dance gold after a narrow second-place finish in the rhythm dance at the Winter Games.

The three-time world champions trail France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron by the slimmest of margins heading into the free dance, following a tightly contested opening night at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron posted a score of 90.18 points earlier in the session, which held through the night. Chock and Bates followed with 89.72 points for their Lenny Kravitz-inspired rhythm dance after a minor error on their pattern step as the final couple to skate.

The Americans had scored a world-leading 91.06 points for the same programme during the team competition, where they helped the United States defend its team gold medal just 24 hours earlier.

“The game is always on,” Chock said afterwards. “We’re not changing anything. We know ourselves and we know our routine.”

Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier sit third on 86.18 points in a tightly packed race for the podium ahead of Wednesday’s free dance, while Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are fourth as they chase the country’s first figure skating medal since 1994.

Despite off-ice scrutiny surrounding their past partnerships, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron delivered their strongest rhythm dance of the season, improving on their team event performance.

Chock and Bates remain strong favourites heading into the decisive free dance, widely regarded as one of the best in the sport. The pair have targeted individual Olympic gold since narrowly missing the podium at the Beijing Games and have dominated ice dance over the past four years, winning three consecutive world titles.

“We’re really happy with how we performed,” Chock said. “We’ll take the feeling from tonight into the free dance.”