BEIJING, China — After concluding their their program Saturday in the rhythm dance portion of the ice dance competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, partners Madison Chock and Evan Bates shared a kiss.
Which, if you'd been wondering up to that point while watching their performance, cleared up any mystery: Yes, they're dating.
The couple are top contenders for a medal in the ice dance competition for Team USA in Beijing, and their score on Saturday of 84.14 has them in fourth ahead of the second and final portion of the event, free dance, on Sunday night.
The two have been partners on the ice since 2011, twice winning medals at the World Championships and scoring gold in both 2019 and 2020 at the prestigious Four Continents Championship.
The two shared a romance back when they were teenagers - Bates taking her to a Bahama Breeze for her 16th birthday - but they didn't start seriously dating until a number of years later.
Now they're in a committed relationship and living together.
On Saturday they were caught sharing a very uniquely Olympian couple moment when Peacock tweeted out video of Chock doing Bates' makeup before their routine.
A couple years ago they spoke with NBC Sports about their relationship and how, because of their competitive lives, spending so much time together was not a new thing as the pandemic sent everyone indoors.
They even found themselves counseling couples on how to share the same space 24/7. Bates said it's common to compare ice dance to a marriage.
"We’ve heard that ice dance is really like a marriage. I guess that must be true since we’ve got married couples asking for advice," he said.
Chock told NBC in another interview a few years ago that their skating had built the foundation for their relationship, and strengthened it.
"We’ve always gotten along so well. Skating together is something that we love doing, and we love doing it together. Now, we’re together on and off the ice and it makes it even more powerful," she said. "It feels completely genuine and real. It makes training so much more fun and it brings us closer together every day. We’re working together, working towards the same things. When you’re doing that with someone that you love, it really is so much more meaningful.”
Bates said in that interview that Chock was his "best friend."
If Chock's Instagram is any indication, they have a lot of fun together.
Back in December she posted them wearing matching "Elf" shirts, and a few days later she shared a post with their (very cute) two little dogs.
It'll be a pretty big mountain to climb to try and capture gold after French pair Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron posted a 90.83 in the rhythm, but they're still in the mix for a medal against another star American pair, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.