Madison Chock and Evan Bates

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Lila Joe Show and welcome to season 2, the season of Ice Skaters. As a competitive ice dancer myself, I am lucky enough to train alongside and to know some of the best athletes in the sport of figure skating. Now many of you listening may know these skaters, but you haven't necessarily had the chance to get to know them, as people. This season these skaters will be stepping down off of the podium to chat with me, and I've got a lot of questions for them. Today's conversation is with Madison Chalk and Evan Bates. Maddie and Evan are seven time US national medalists, two time world medalists, they've gone to two Olympic games as a team, and they were the 2019 Four Continent's Champions. Maddie and Evan are lovebirds both on and off of the ice and are just the sweetest people. They both possess numerous hidden talents, including Evan's beat boxing skills, which I actually got him to demonstrate for us, so stay tuned for that. What took them so long to finally start dating after six years skating together? How did Maddie and Evan deal with the post-alympic blues? Why was their first day of training in Montreal such a disaster? And is a wedding in the cards anytime soon? The answers to these questions and more are coming up next with Maddie and Evan. And a surprise appearance from their two adorable dogs, Henry and Stella. Who's there? [Batman screaming] And how did I see who's there? No one, no one, it's just a. [Batman screaming] Stella and Henry. Get it all out now, you two. Get it all out now. Let it out. Henry. No, come here. Come here. [Batman screaming] Maddie and Evan, welcome to the show. Thank you, Ellen. I'm so excited to be talking to you guys, so thank you for your time. Of course. Thank you. Thank you. So we were on the ice together today and I know you've already worked out, but I structure my interviews like the workouts that we do every day. So we start off with a warm-up, then we move on into a longer period of high intensity questioning and then the cool down to finish. Okay, sounds good. Great, so we're gonna start with a warm-up, I'll just alternate between the two of you with answers. Really difficult question. Ice cream or sorbet? That is a really difficult question. Okay, summer probably sorbet sometimes, but I love ice cream. I know, but the dairy. I know. I told you it was a tough one. That really is a tough one. Evan, thoughts? Ice cream. Okay, that was easy for you. Not not hard. Yeah. Okay, fair enough. He likes the chocolate tip. Oh. Have you been to the dippery? Yes. Okay, super question. What are your favorite cities or favorite cities? I love Florence, and Lee. That was one of my favorites. Paris and Hawaii. Nice. I'm a little blue. Sorry, that was really quite Honolulu. Honolulu. Honolulu. I think anywhere in Italy, specifically Rome, it was my favorite, but anywhere in Italy is good, I think. Can't go wrong. Yeah, can't go wrong. We did last spring. We did a trip down like Florence, Rome. We did, yeah, we went. Did you do the emergency coast? No. That's on my list. Pumpay, we went to Brazil, we went right after Worlds. Okay. Spring, April, Chile. Yeah. I'm off the coast, but that was, we almost went there. Nice. Do you prefer to cook or eat out? Cook. That was like 90 points. Yeah. Okay, so Evans and charge of cooking. I do a lot of the cooking, and lately we've been good about cooking. And I think it's better for the budget and better just for us, you know, better for our diets and we feel better. But then going to a restaurant feels like more special if you've been cooking at home and you know, it's like, if you're going to splurge once in a while, it feels better if you don't do it five days a week. Yeah, that's true. I definitely need to work on that. I tend to eat out too much. But I mean, you have school, you're skating, like the podcast, like you're not just sitting around the bed. I'm sure. I mean, if you give me that many reasons, I'll keep going. Uber Eats is also good, but we're going to not talk about that. What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate. Bread. Okay. This little cat very mini eggs. Ooh. Just non. Like, oh man, like bread. Bread. Bread. Non bread. Not. Bread in general, specifically non. Garlic and garlic and parsley. He did up. Oh, it's a good one. Okay. I should have come burying bread. Just so you know. And chocolate. You should just kick me out right now. Some useless calories. Yeah. Why not? The best. Now, nobody listening or maybe some people listening have had the pleasure of coming into your beautiful apartment. I remember the first time I came, I was just like, did I walk into Pinterest? Really? It's stunning. So I'd love for you to describe your interior design style to paint the picture for everyone listening. Oh, gosh. Um, what would be the style? Like a cozy, but with classic modern touches. Like I think our couch is super cozy. And it's just like a nice comfy space and then we have big mirror in the corner that twinkly lights are hanging from. It's had a nice ambiance in the evening. And a glass coffee table, which is hard to keep clean actually, but I love the two tears because then you can put coffee table books, such. You should be like a real estate agent or something. That was a beautiful description. Thank you. And now we have a visit from Stella. One of the two gorgeous, like one of my friends. They're toy poodles. They're toy poodles. Yes. So sorry for everyone listening. You don't get to see the dogs in person either, but they are adorable. They're very cute. Evan, what is one habit that you would like to cultivate? I would like to be more consistent with good habits. Like I just feel like in general, I try to be, you know, self-improving in many areas, like, you know, going to bed early or eating healthier or reading more, you know, spending my time well and then I just fall into like, kind of fall out of those good habits. So I think overall just consistency would be what I would like to work on. And Maddie, what is one habit you would like to get rid of? I'm not always the most punctual person. Oh, so I would say I'd like to work in my punctuality, especially in the morning. Well, it's difficult when we're on at 7.30. Yeah. I know. I agree. And both of you, what language do you wish you could speak? Right now, French. Yeah. And I'm working on it, but. Yeah, the French. I mean, obviously living in a place where the French is the predominant language and not speaking French, it just feels like unnatural to call a place home and to not speak the language. It feels a little bit strange. So we're working on learning French, but it's coming slowly. But it does help to live here for sure. Oh, yeah. Just to be sure they're going to find it. The immersion is like the best way to learn. Yeah, exactly. So that's our warm up done. We're now going to move into the workout. Right? So with my guests, I'd like to start from childhood just to kind of show the foundations to the wonderful people that they are. So Maddie, I'm going to start with you. You were born in Redondo Beach, California. Yes. Which is very nice. And you have the most beautiful combination of nationalities. Your dad is of Chinese Hawaiian descent and your mom's descent is a mix of German, English, Irish, French and Dutch. Might be wrong, this is Wikipedia. No, that's true. Okay, so. So, Americans. Next. And given this beautifully rich background, please tell me your full name and the meaning behind it. My full name is Madison La Céa, Teywan Holtchok. And La Céa is Hawaiian and Teywan is Chinese. La Céa means especially you need a working and Teywan means like a sacred light. Wow. That's beautiful. Thanks. Yeah, I'm like, I'm very nice. You're very name-appied when they make me. Lots of names. I love that. I love that. And to which culture do you connect the most out of these? I don't know. I suppose American culture, because American and it is so normal these days for, well nothing is normal, but for Americans to be so diverse and rich in their culture. So there's not one specific culture I connect with because I'm not just brought up as one specific culture. It's a huge array of people. It's a huge array. So just, I think the most I can associate with is American. Nice. Well you guys do a great job of representing USAID for sure. Thank you. And what does your dad do? My dad is retired, but he was a flight attendant for American Airlines. Wow. He got to travel a lot. In turn, I got to travel a lot. And I'm so happy to be doing this. And do you, are you a fan of American Airlines? I am a fan of my parents working for American Airlines. I'm guessing the fact that American Airlines has employed them for so many years. Oh, they both worked there? Oh, that's so cool. Yes. Is that how they met? Yes. Oh, no. They didn't meet at American Airlines. They were, well, my mom was on a flight to the mainland from Hawaii and my dad was working on a flight and that's how they met. Oh my gosh, that's like a rom-com. I know, it's cute. It's cute. That's so cute. And what is one of your fondest memories with your dad? Hmm. I think just when he would work, uh, work, and he would fly to Hawaii, he would take me with him sometimes when it was on the weekend. And, um, this is back in the 90s. You probably can't do this now with your kids, but I would go up and down the aisles with him at work, because I wanted to help and so he was like, okay, go collect the trash from all the passengers and then go collect the trash. And then we meet the aisles of the plane and then get off and be in Hawaii and be amazing. And we just, like, go to the beach and spend lots of time together and be super fun. That's the dream, take your daughter to work day. From right ahead. Mine was like highlighting stuff in my dad's office. I'm rather good at Hawaii, I think. And your mom used to be a musician known as Barbara Hall, which is, I didn't know that's very cool. And I was wondering, was music prominent in your home growing up? Yeah. My mom would sing a lot. We had a piano, but I took some lessons when I was young, but I've never progressed enough as I now wish I had. But when I was young, I wasn't very interested in piano, unfortunately. But yeah, my dad would play music, we left us to meet at all these radio stations. And my mom would sing a lot. So she was a singer? Yeah, my parents aren't singers. No, but they love -- Your parents are awesome. They like listening to your parents. Thank you. Yeah, they always come bearing coffee in the mornings to the rink. In good conversation. Yeah, for sure. What do you admire most about your mom? Her inner strength and her personality. She's very outgoing and she's a very strong person because I know she deals with a lot of stress at work on a daily basis. And she had cancer and she felt through cancer and is now healthy. And it was just really inspiring to see her go through that process and how she changed as a person. And how she's continuing to change. And I know that they came with that news one morning at the rink. So from that moment to where she is now, how did that experience shape you? Oh, wow. Wow, I don't even know. I mean, I think I think I'd be stronger than I was before because just I didn't know when I -- my mom to know, like, I just wanted to make her feel good and make her feel happy whenever we were together because she'd go fly down to Dallas for her treatments with my dad. And so I would stay with friends or, like, my family -- some of my aunts and uncles would come and stay with me while they were down there. And so I don't know. I've just tried to talk to her as much as I could while she was down there and tell her about skating and how everything was going. And she would make sure that she was still in the loop with everything even though she was far, because I know it was hard for her to, like, feel like she was still with me and not missing out on things. And I know that your whole family moved to Michigan from California. So how was this decision made to make this move across the country? Well, I was 13 at the time and -- no, actually, I was 12. And we moved -- we got to Michigan on my 13th birthday, but -- I -- my coaches in California -- so I had a very passionate, interested in footwork. When I was little, I always wanted to add more footwork to the program. And, so they're like, "Why don't you try ice dance?" And they set me up with some ice dance coaches, and I tried it, and I loved it. And so then my coaches talked to my parents and kind of told them the ice dance world and all of this that they could do. And I went to Dallas for some tryouts. I came to Michigan for some tryouts. And my parents could see how much I loved it. And they decided that they would uproot our lives in California and move to Michigan so I could be an ice dancer and pursue my Olympic. And I'm sure they've seen how that decision was worth it in the end. Yes, yeah, they were very happy that it worked out. Yeah, so -- because I'm old, you never know. Yeah, totally. And Evan, you on the other hand did not have to move to Michigan because you were born and raised there. This is true. This is true. Yes. So, Matt, you're an only child, right? I am. And you on the other hand have a few siblings. I have an older brother and older sister and my brother is seven years older, my sister four. And my sister is actually the reason I started skating because she was a skater. And then just as the little brother kind of always in tow, you know, like being brought to the rink and just running away from my mom. And she says I would hide from her like in the stands and just drive her nuts. So eventually she said she just put me on the ice so she could keep track of me. See where you were? So she could see where I was. That's a great start. And also it's funny because the same I interviewed Nathan Chen and then also Kaitlin. And they both started because they were siblings. Yeah. They had to be controlled while they were siblings. So what to the rink and pursued skating? Yeah, I feel like a lot of male figure skaters especially. I always like, yeah, my sister was a skater, you know, in the 90s I don't know. I feel like male figure skaters were a bit, you know, few and far between. And hopefully now it's a little bit more popular. And you know, we have more guys in the sport, but I feel like, you know, especially growing up, it was rare to be a male figure skater, you know, to be a guy and to be figure skating. So yeah, that was a unique experience, I think. And wondering how did your classmates or teammates and other sports at the time respond to you being a figure skater? I really had so many positive experiences with it, but I was always like the kid who was leaving school early or just disappear for a week at a time, you know, for a competition. And so that was a little bit, I think, strange for some of my classmates, I was really fortunate to be a product of Ann Arbor Public Schools, Ann Arbor is my hometown. So growing up with the same group of friends and classmates from elementary all the way through high school was a huge benefit because I had already like established so many relationships and I felt comfortable and I didn't feel like embarrassed by it or anything. You know, they were all super supportive of what I was doing. So I think I was pretty fortunate in that regard. And you come from a very sporty family. Sporty, yeah. So please tell me like the other sporting endeavors in your family. I would say running is a big sport in my family. My dad was a, is a runner. He has run many marathons and he ran cross country and high school and college. My sister is a very accomplished marathoner. She's run I think almost 25 marathons. How old is she? 34. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And so she loves running. Running is a huge thing in my family. And my grandfather was a basketball player. He played at Michigan State and was set a few records there and was really kind of a famous basketball player. Back in his day, back in the 40s. There's some really cool photos of that. Really? My brother is a great athlete. My mom is a golf coach and she was East Lansing City Golf Champion back in her day. So yeah, I think everyone in my family is involved in sports and somewhere or another. So the foundation was really set there with, I was, I was so obsessed with sports as a kid. Like any family video we have, it's like people are, you know, interacting with each other. And then I'm like off by myself with like a basketball or a baseball and a bat. And I'm like literally playing sports alone by myself. Like 24/7. Like obsessive. So despite playing basketball against a wall by yourself, I know that you love team sports growing up. Yeah. So where would you say that this preference came from? I don't know. I think there's something special about like the camaraderie of being in a team. And I think even though figure skating is an individual sport, doing ice dance is a team sport, you know. So skating with Maddie, I feel like it is really a team. And then with you, when you add in the coaches and the kind of support system that we have, it feels like a big team sport. Yeah. And then beyond that, the nationality and the team USA, for example. Yeah, exactly. And then you have a good point. Yes, for sure. It just kind of keeps extending the audience to it. Yeah. It's like a huge team, which is really nice. So both of you had very successful careers with your previous partners. Greg and Emily. - Yes. - That would be really awkward if I could use one. Before teaming up in July 2011. So you obviously knew each other before skating together. And thinking back to the first time that you met, what was your first impression? Oh, I really liked Evan. I thought he was so funny. Like from day one, he was making me laugh. And he's been making me laugh ever since. Oh, and Evan? Well, Maddie is just like, you know, she really catches your eyes. She's beautiful. She's just kind of like got an aura about her. So she walks in the rank and she just kind of has this big smile and she makes everyone around her happy. And so it's funny that we were competitors before we were partners. And we skated at different ranks. And then we skated at the same rank, but we were still competitors. And then kind of fate allowed us to try out together and eventually start skating together. And I feel like it was just this long and, you know, - Yeah, our career. - Faithful story. Kind of followed on the same trajectory. I was just one year behind Evan. Like when he would compete at junior worlds in the next year, I competed at junior worlds. And it just kind of went like that. And while you're here, merged. - You're so fine Montreal. - Look at that. Indeed. They're two dogs. And despite being on the same trajectory and knowing each other for so many years, what is something that surprised you about one another after teaming up despite knowing or thinking that you knew each other before? I think just it's not surprising, because I know change is all around us, but just how much we've changed since we first started skating together. We've both really grown a lot into ourselves and how we've evolved together as a team and as a couple has been really beautiful. I think for me, I was a little bit surprised by how tough Mattie is and kind of the work ethic and the grit, you know, underneath that maybe doesn't always come across when you just meet her and see how beautiful it and stunning she is. But getting to work with her every day for eight years and seeing her go through ankle surgery and fighting back and the kind of grit and determination that she has is just very impressive. And I don't know if people who just meet her or just acquaintances with her see her, you know, every so often really get a sense of that, because when you just meet her, you know, there are so many things that catch your eye or you know, you just don't always see her. Mattie's crossing her eyes right now. Still beautiful. Still beautiful. And even though you started skating together in 2011, you only announced that you were dating in 2017. What took you so long? Oh gosh, I don't know. We were both in relationships with other people for a while and I think we were growing and evolving to become the people that we would become and just the right moment hadn't arisen yet. I think that we've had chemistry from the very start and it just took, I guess, a bit. Yeah, we went on a few dates. Like when we were like teenagers. I remember like 16th birthday. Just like a summer fling. Like when we were super, you know, I can watch him by softball. Yeah, we were just so young and then we were skating at different ranks. So we, it didn't really go anywhere. Then we both had our own separate relationships and then we started skating together and sort of just that evolved and we just fell in love on the ice and had so much fun every day together and just like, yeah, I mean, it just evolved. Do you think if you didn't skate together, you would still be together? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. What do you mean? Oh, like if you never teamed up. I don't know. I don't know. Because I feel like skating, you know, when you pursue it at a high level for a long time, it's rare. You know, I'm 30 years old and I'm still doing it. And if I weren't skating with Maddie, I don't know if I would still be doing it. And if we had never skated together, you'd never know, of course. But I feel like-- I feel like maybe not. Yeah, I feel like we wouldn't know if we'd been in safe circles and I don't know. Yeah. It's crazy because, you know, one of the only reasons we started skating together was because I had a bad injury in 2010 and it took me a year to get back. And then during that year of recovery, Maddie's partner unexpectedly retired. And we just had this opportunity where we were both looking for partners, skating at the same rank and it worked. But I think if those circumstances weren't what they were, I doubt we would skate together because we've got a foot of height difference. I know we come from different backgrounds. Just looking at us, you wouldn't have paired us up naturally. I don't think. It's crazy to think about like, if things haven't turned out how they did. It is. I mean, I've never thought about it, actually. I know it's interesting to think about it. Yeah, and how did the dynamic change when you fell in love on ice? When you said we are together, we're going to be together romantically as well as in the skating partnership? Well, I think it definitely changed our skating. It brought us to a deeper level of connection and intimacy. And we just, every time we looked at each other, we were doing it because we really wanted to be looking at each other. And that just brought a whole nother layer of emotion and authenticity to our skating. So let's say Evan didn't clean the dishes and Maddie left her clothes all over the place. Or on the other hand, if there was a really rough day at the rank. How do you draw the line between your home life and your skating life? It can be challenging, but I think we are actually pretty good at it. And I attribute a lot to our coaching staff, to Marie and Patch and Roman who preach having a good time. It's not just like work, work, work, and go home and just prepare for work the next day. There's like a nice work life balance in our school and also in the city. Like I feel like the vibes of Montreal are so much like work life balance is a huge thing. And we've bought into it and we love it very much. And I think that's been something new for us since moving here. Like having more of a life outside of skating, having more of a social life, taking time to just appreciate the moment more often. And I think it's something that's really healthy to do. And I think it's something that a lot of people don't do. Especially in the States and with the kind of like American dream, quote unquote, and that kind of like rat race and that pressure to make more money always. It can be all consuming. And we're aware of it and we're just kind of trying to strike the right balance of working hard, but also enjoying life and taking time to just smell the roses as they say. That's important. You're listening to the Lila Jo Show. The two of you have had such an impressive and metal-studded career. And I've admired your skating for so long, not only your connection, which you've spoken of, but also like the artistry behind it and the stories that you tell. And I've always admired the two of you. Thank you. And I'd love to talk about the Olympics because Evan, you've been to three Olympics. The latter two of which were alongside this beautiful lady here. And Maddie, I was wondering, going into your first Olympics, what was it like to have a partner who had already been to the Olympics? It was wonderful actually. Not that it wouldn't be wonderful. It was amazing. He had so much insight that was very useful. For example, at the opening ceremonies in Sochi, I was so excited. I was almost sprinting because I was so excited. And he just grabbed me and was like, slow down. Come back. You're going to want to take it slow and really enjoy and say for this moment, I was like, oh yeah, why wouldn't I do that? Right. And so then I slowed down because I was so excited. I just wanted to see everything, just run and go. And it was really nice to have him there and tell me to just enjoy it because it was a really special moment. And there were so many moments like that throughout the games that he was just very grounded. And yeah, it was really nice. He was a rock. And I always ask my guests to have been to the Olympics for advice because many people listening, dream of going to the Olympics. So what was something that surprised you or felt short of your expectations that you could warn us about? I think the biggest thing for a first time Olympian is energy management. It is so easy to just let all of your excitement overwhelm you and, especially, especially when you're probably competing in the second or third week of the games, which means you've been there for 10, 15 days already. Every practice is sold to the public, so you're skating what feels like in a competitive environment. Every single day for two weeks, it's so exhausting. And you only have 30 minute practices sometimes. Two weeks before you can be at, like, or maybe 45 minutes. Sometimes they're very short and that's all you'll skate all day. And then you add in the fact that you're so excited, you're meeting other athletes. There are other events you want to go see. You just marched in the opening ceremony. There are so many things that can just sap your energy and by the time you get to your event and you're supposed to do the most, you know, why you're there is this skate. And you feel like exhausted and tired. And that's what I felt. The first time I went to the Olympics. And then, you know, seeing Maddie and, you know, we come out of the tunnel for the opening ceremony. She literally just like bolted like you're saying, "Bull." Like she just started taking off. And anyways, so we just like reeled it in a little bit. We're like, let's just like, let's just like, let's just like, excrecute this moment a little bit. Maybe just like, you know, a mid-paced walk instead of a high-speed sprint. I've been such good advice because I totally would have sapped all my energy otherwise. It's not just that, but just, you know, like we said earlier, like enjoying the moment. Enjoying the moment. It goes by so quickly. And then you find yourself all of a sudden it's like summertime, the Olympics are three, four months gone. And it's, there are some blues, you know, the post-Olympic blues are, I think, a real thing for lots of athletes. They come from such a high, high of being in the Olympics and fulfilling that lifetime dream for so many people. And then it's like afterwards, you know, re-adjusting. What's up and after? What's up, you know, back to your normal Monday night. It's so hard to adjust back, you know. You're like, why am I paying for McDonald's? McDonald's should be free. It's free in the Olympic Village. Why am I paying for this big Mac, you know? Because, yeah, it's just, you know, you feel like you are at the epicenter of the world for a few weeks because it, you know, just the news cycle and the public eye is just so turned towards what you're doing. And then afterwards, it's like the world moves on. And I think it's difficult for the athlete to move on sometimes. So from having competed in three, have you developed any coping mechanisms for that post-Olympic blues? With that post-Olympic blues, gosh, it can be really hard. You know, this past year, Maddie was injured and needed surgery. And so our focus kind of went immediately to that, to having the surgery and re-having and getting healthy and knowing that we wanted to continue to skate. So that was almost a distraction of sorts. Not a good distraction because, you know, the injury wasn't ideal. You never want that. But I think it can be hard, you know, if you don't have another outlet or especially if you're you've just retired, you know, I know a lot of athletes go through that kind of difficult transition of life after sport. And so that's something that like, you know, I think it's good to think about and just imagine and sort of give at least a little bit of consideration to so that when you get there, it's not just like you're standing over a cliff looking at like, "Good luck." Now what do I do with rest of my life, you know? It's daunting. It is very daunting. I think we all try to stay present and to not really think about that, to act in denial in a way just because we love what we do. But now I think it is important to at least pay some thought to the next step. I agree. Because the next step is going to be so different. And you speak of the lead up to the next Olympics as you're built to Beijing or your road to redemption. I did my research, guys. Did we do that? Well, you said that. I didn't know. I didn't know. I said, "Aven speaks up." So maybe they misquoted. I don't know. That sounds like pretty decent marketing, though. Yeah. All right. Here we go. I told you, my next question makes sense. I was going to say, "What do you hope to redeem in the next Olympics?" I think just a sense of personal fulfillment and knowing that you've performed well. The point of the games and underperforming is so disappointing. Frankly, it's so disappointing. To feel like, you know, I've worked years. We've worked years and years, often times a lifetime, to get to that moment. And then it doesn't go well. It's difficult to get over. And I think we are lucky to have the opportunity to continue skating and to hopefully go back to the games and have another chance. But I know it's just there's a lot that rides into one moment. And so you do all you can to prepare and you take the ice and do your best, but there are always other factors you can't control. I don't know. And I know Maddie, you competed the last Olympic season with an osteocontrol lesion. Very good. I was pretty sure I was going to butcher that one. Could you please explain how this happened and what this foreign and fancy term means? Yes. Well, first, it happened while we were preparing for the Olympic season. We were getting ready. It was actually about the same time of year where we are right now. And we were getting ready for our Champs Camp, which is the US Training Camp where you debut your programs and show that you're prepared for the upcoming season. And we were training and it was just a really extra difficult day and it was at the end of the day of training. We were overtraining for Champs Camp, which was a little frustrating. But yeah, we went up and we did a lift. It was literally the last thing that we were doing on that session. And I go down in the split across his legs and then my foot, my blade got stuck in the ice and so all the momentum of the lift and speed went into my ankle and my knee. And at first I thought it was my knee because my knee was so sore but it was just a bone bruise in the joint. But it turns out after skating on it more a couple of weeks later, I found that my ankle was actually very sore. And so what had happened was that all that pressure chipped off some of my tailless bone and then so I just had bone fragments floating in the joint in my ankle. And so when they would rub it would be very painful. And that's just what was in my ankle for the whole season. And I was in the stands at Pyeongchang for the short dance. Oh, yes. So I saw the misfortune that happened on the five minute warm up before the short dance. And so essentially you, that happened again. We did the same lift and it hadn't happened again until that very moment. Classic. Of course. Good timing. Naturally. Good timing. Yeah. So what happened in the minutes between getting off the ice after the warm up and taking your starting position for your performance? I had the physio come over and work on my foot a little bit and had a lot of adrenaline coursing through my body so I think that did a really good job of just getting the jitters out and then by the time it was done, I just got on the ice and we skated well and that was that and then my foot was so afterwards. But you adrenaline didn't care at all. I didn't feel when we were skating. And like were you doubting yourself what's going through your head if you're in pain and you have to think about this other thing that of course had to happen on the warm up and then you have to go and perform the best possible? Yeah, it was definitely a stressful period of time between our warm up and our performance but you crushed it. I was worried but I was like I'm a the Olympics like I'm going to skate no matter what. I mean she had been fighting through the surgery eventually so it doesn't matter if it's like a little more damage to not like I'm just going to do it. If you knew the surgery was coming and then you like having some training with the pain and competing with it. I mean she did every competition with her foot taped every day, training every day with her foot taped and it was just very stressful. I think we were both in just like such a stressed frame of mind at that moment that it was like of course it's going to happen on the five of the warm up when it rains and pours like. So I don't know. She handled it very well. And yeah, I don't know. And so did you. Very calm. That's helpful. Wow. And in the free dance you had what Maddie described as a free accident in fluke. How do you remember this moment? Vivitly. Vivitly. Vivitly. At all happens so fast we went up from the list of the lifts into the spin and our feet just got stuck together. We went up and then we went down. We went down very hard. It was like all you know we were skating well and then all of a sudden it was like I'm on my stomach. Yeah. I think we're at the Olympics. I'm on my stomach and something. Something's not right here. I was like my hands are in the ice. No. - This shouldn't be another. - Ranch would not be another. - This isn't swimming. - Yeah. - Oh God, we missed a whole element. - Yeah, so what is going through your head and what mental switch was made? - I'm just keep going, because that's what you're trying for. You can stop, you just get up and keep going and we did and tried to hold it together to the end, but when we came up out of our last element and I was just like, oh my God, we actually just fell on our faces in front of millions of people. And I was just so devastated from that moment because that was everything we had been training for. That was the whole reason I had fought through the season with my foot and it was to perform at that moment at the Olympics and then just feel like the rug was swept out from under our feet, which fell on our faces. - And then you're ushered into the mix zone and you have to give like on camera interviews, and we're like, oh my God. - And everyone comes and they're like, looking at you. - You're like, I know. - No, no, don't look at me. (laughing) - And how did you get over this devastation at that moment? - I think the, you know, having each other, having a little bit of a distraction with the surgery afterwards. - Knowing that we wanted to continue and now we had another goal set 'cause we couldn't end. - So it was just like, - Just a small song. - Yeah. - And then, you know, knowing that we were gonna move to Montreal and start with new coaches that was hugely inspiring and motivating. - Oh, no, no, no. - Okay. - And in the spring afterwards. You know, of course afterwards we were pretty upset and then we decided to go to worlds and just kind of finish the season on a better note. And we did, we skated well at worlds and then we went on an amazing trip through Italy that I spoke about earlier. - There you go, whoa. - That was our trip to Italy. - It was incredible. - So, if you get over the world. - Yeah, Olympic Blues going to Italy. That's really the remedy. - Yeah, good advice. I mean, I might do that if I'm like, you know what to go. And I know that the response to your free dance and how you dealt with that moment was, it had a huge impact. What was the impact that was made in everyone that witnessed this moment? - Oh, it was actually very inspiring to hear. Even just some of the stories that people told us about how our performance, they could relate to it because it was something that you don't always see in the Olympics, but it happens every day. People go through things or have traumatic experiences in their life and you have to get up and keep going because life doesn't stop. And so that performance for us was very meaningful. And to have the impact that it had on so many people was actually like the goal that we never really intended to make by making a mistake, but it was a goal that we had in mind for the program, just to inspire people and use the wonderful lyrics of Imagine to kind of bring a different perspective to people and life and inspiration. But then it turned out to be very inspiring for people and we're like, wow, our tragedy had more of an impact than maybe if we had skated clean. And so it actually was kind of like a silver lining. People could relate to it more and relate to us. And the impact of our program turned out to be greater than the fact that we had a major error than if we had just skated clean, which was nice that it could inspire people. But yeah, we're definitely ready for the road. And whatever's happened in the past and skating and whatever lies ahead, what impact do you wanna have through the incredible gift that you have in this sport? - That's deep and profound, Lila, John. Oh my gosh. I think it's just mostly that when you see people doing things that they love to do and that they feel like is the only thing that they wanna be doing in their lives. Like when they're so consumed with what they're doing that they're in the moment and they're joyous, that like just-- - It's infectious. - Yeah, that really is infectious. When I see someone doing that, whether it's like, you know, a YouTube video of someone, you know, playing piano or whatever, like even-- - Or AGT. - Doing tricks with their dog or something, you know. - Just forming to dreams. - Like I think joy is infectious. So to hopefully inspire people to just do what they wanna do and realize that you can make a passion into a career. Like we love figure skating and technically it's our job, you know? - Which is awesome. - Which is awesome. And I would hopefully, hopefully that will inspire and encourage people to, you know, reconsider ways of making a living, honestly. We talked about a little bit earlier, like that kind of mentality of having to, you know, make the most money and fulfill the American dream and yada, yada, yada. But if you wake up and you go do what you wanna do and then you can go to bed at night, like what more? - Like you feel such a fulfillment. - Yeah. - A happiness inside that you can't buy. - Yeah. - With all the money you make from job that maybe you don't like as opposed to feeling fulfilled and feeling happiness. 'Cause that's the feeling that you're gonna remember at the end of your life. - Yeah. - You're listening to the Lila Joe Show. - And this past season, it's been said that we've witnessed the rebirth of Madison Chalk and Evan Bates since you made the move to Montreal. - Reborn. - Your reborn. - Your reborn. - I'm rising from the edges. - Yes. - At what point did you decide to make the move and what was the catalyst for this decision? - I think after our Olympic experience, we really took a look at our career and what we wanted to do. Did we wanna keep skating? Did we wanna retire? And after that, we really were like, okay, we wanna keep going but we wanna push ourselves and expand. Because we felt like we had more inside us to give and we hadn't reached our potential yet. So we're like, okay, in order to do that, I think we need to make a major change. And Marie and Patches School has been growing and it's been a very prestigious school for many years now and so we're like, okay, that's where we wanna train. I think that's the new goal, getting into that school. And so we set our sights on moving and it's been the best of like, being in our life. Like, moving to Montreal has brought us so much joy, not just from skating but just the people that were around every day. Like you and our coaches and all our friends at the rink and it's not just about skating anymore. It's about like Evan said, living your life and being happy and we feel so, so happy. Like in every aspect of our lives now, it's just much more balanced and I know that we're in the right place and we're where we're meant to be right now. - How good does that feel? - It feels very good. - Oh, yeah. - Do you remember your first day at God Boa? - Yes. - It was actually at St. Constant. - It was really good. - Oh, that's not a good start. - I don't know. - How do you tell us about this first impression of God Boa? - It was very cold. - Or it was a constant. - It was a constant. - It was a constant. - It was a constant. - We were like, we moved and we're like, "Oh, I heard we're skating at God Boa. What is this straight place?" It's a cold, humid, I walked into the locker room and I was like, - You went to change his clothes. - I went to change my clothes. I just like stepped into like a shower, you know, to change clothes and it happened to be, it happened to be an automatic shower. And so I just got like drenched, completely, completely like clothes on. - It's like, first day clothes on. I just step into the automatic shower. Take a shower with my clothes on. - What you attended to do before? - The rink is like so humid and uncomfortable to begin with. - It's cold. - Zach Donahue gave me like a spare shirt and I survived. - That's what friends are for. - I will always remember my first day, same constant. - Wow. And just so everyone knows, it's so humid that the walls of the locker room are wet. - Yes. - Not the right, the locker room. - Like my phone has condensation on it. - Oh, it's not kind of disgusting. - It's not good. - It's cold and wet and then the locker rooms are hot and sweaty. - And sweat. - Yeah. - Something right. - It doesn't make sense. - Like something is missing. - No rink. - Well, I'm happy we're finally back at Godblow. - Oh, so much. - Very very. - So today is pretty wet. Godblow too. - I know. - Boards were all watery. - And Maddie, you spoke of being reinvigorated after feeling stagnant for a period of time. And I just wanna read something that you said, which I think is so beautiful. You said it felt almost like I was relearning things for the first time. Like when I was a little girl and I was skating for the first time and everything was exciting and new. And I just love this idea of a youthful curiosity and almost a new passion for the sport. So I was wondering, how are you keeping this excitement alive? - I mean, we're learning things every day from Marie and Patch. And it's just, I mean, I'm like, I learn something new every day and it's fun to work on their technique because it's so different from what I've learned all my life training in a Russian technique and now I'm training with the French technique and It's just very different and it's very fun to try to tackle and absorb as much as I can and Learn and then apply it to this my skating and I do feel a huge difference every day like something is getting better. I can feel just change and What excites you the most right now? well over Getting into our run-throughs and it's exciting now to feel like The run-throughs are getting a little bit better and now you can really We can really emote them and skate them a little more full out And so that's a fun process exploring the new choreography in a more Comfortable zone not like you're just trying to survive your first scholarship You're run through today was so good We did a face plan in our years was great There's some kind of positive vibe to it Lewis hit the hit the boards and then hit me and then I hit ice. I just like looked over inside you both like Come on guys, you got this yeah, it helps to have you guys cheering us on for sure But your first one through is better right like you took one in the morning too. That was that was a better start to the day I'm just happy we have a Friday to hopefully have our road of And Evan you've said that obviously perfect doesn't exist We are all striving for that perfect performance that perfect moment And it's really just unattainable if you're your best self. It's your perfect So I was wondering sounds like I contradicted myself Well, I mean and that's so pessimistic, you know perfect doesn't exist I eat okay, so like I I don't know perfect does perfect exist like I'm not sure I don't know if I agree with myself I think it can mean different things to different people like if you've done everything that you could possibly do What is more perfect than that That's a good point So I'll ask you what who is your best self? Somebody who lives with a set of values and who Backs them up by with action, you know someone who has beliefs and who lives their life according to those beliefs and who sort of you know Walks the walk talks the talk, you know what I mean like just someone who isn't like superfluous and who's just like Trying to show off and be you know like a genuine person like a real person who Leads more with action than with words Maddie can you back me off? I think he's doing a good job. Yeah, he's doing an amazing job And that is who he is like he I can see him working on himself and his ideals every day and it's it's inspiring. It's inspiring to me because sometimes I feel like just little Something blowing in the wind and I'm like help That's not true No, sometimes I feel like that and then ever it'll come along and just pluck me out of the wind and Like Say things like that and I realize like yes, I just need like He's right and he's he's got such a good head on his shoulders and He he does live. You can't take compliments. No, he doesn't. I'm just It's you it's you babe. You just you're so smart and eloquent Yeah, no, it's true that he and you just proved us right I think everyone listening can agree and and he is a man of his word and a man of action like If he says he's gonna do something he's gonna do it and he won't get it done He doesn't wait for someone else to do it. He makes it happen and I think that's so Array for people because a lot of people are just all talk like I'm gonna do this and I need this and I want this and Want and needs and he he's there. Okay. He's like this is what I want to do this is what I need to do and he does it Action speak louder than words to yes preach preach and Maddie who is you your best self Someone who listens to Evan. No, I think My best self is someone who is free of judgment of themselves and is I try to remind myself every day that everyone is just doing their best and that's all you can ask of anyone and to try to just keep in that ideal of just being kind and being compassionate and seeing yourself and other people because We're all human and we can all relate to each other if like we're all similar in some way if we just look inside and and get in touch with each other and our other fellow people because That's something that these days with social media. It's hard to stay in touch with who your True identity is and not compare yourself to other people or feel like you are not enough and you don't have enough and you need more and to just stay grounded so that would be my best self is to just Yeah, that's beautiful grounded and very well done three So now it's time to cool down Okay, which we all need because it's hot in here Sorry turn the fan off for the yeah, we're doing this for the audio everyone we're sweating for you for the audio So you two attended two fairy tale weddings this summer oh my gosh the recent Eric and of Merrill and the door yes, wasn't sure of the pronunciation So do you have wedding fever is wedding in the cards anytime soon? I mean we just wanted to hitch our bandwagon to their weddings We just do it like they walked away like we should just do it now. Yeah, we were thinking about Stealing the locat location like all our friends are here Surprise Yeah, no, they definitely gave us some inspiration though, but they set the bar so hot so high Really guys we need to wait a few years to see these memories just fade a little bit Yeah, people don't remember people are comparing our wedding to these weddings because these weddings were just like next level so nice both of them As of now, what is your dream wedding setting? Hmm, I think like Maddie's always wanted to be get married in Hawaii. Yeah, like your parents Yes, but I think now my dream wedding would just be some place that All of my closest friends and family can reach and as long as everyone's there that we love That would be perfect. I just realized my shirt's on inside. I was I couldn't mention that after I did notice okay, thanks It was most of the time. I'm gonna see it No, you can see it. Yeah, this is the great thing about podcasts Oh man problems problems dressing myself I was like well, I look amazing. Oh He's the cutest dog I want you to imagine your lives 10 years from now So this is dream board ideal life, okay? Okay. Where are you? Who are you with and what are you up to? We're with each other and hopefully a family. I think we definitely want to have a family. I think that's Something we both agree on. I don't know where I don't know where either, but maybe I can imagine us Not I don't know where we're gonna live, but I imagine us on vacation right now somewhere on Oh, you love you love beach and what was the third part what are you doing? Your wise or whatever Maybe I am designing interior okay. Yes designing homes and interior designer. I think you'd be good at that Yeah, you would Yeah, can you and can you design my future home? Yeah, I mean this apartment is the only thing I've designed as far and Evan really just be here was it? I don't know. I mean like for all of that Speak about Considering what you're gonna do after skating it really depends on the day with me honestly Sometimes I think you know, I'd like to maybe go back to school and get a graduate degree and You know pursue something outside of skating and other days. I'm like well, I just love skating so much like Maybe we'll stay in the sport somehow and and make that our living but I think For our own sake, we want to give skating a break after we're done competing and just spend at least A period of time away from the sport entirely and to see what that's like and then I think Just to give ourselves like a fair chance to like sort of Decompress and and let things settle and then have a clear vision of what we want to do because it's just so hard to say right now like Who knows honestly? Who knows yeah, we're gonna do a follow-up interview in 10 years. Yeah, you're gonna be 40. Don't mean to say this You know 40 is not that old 40 is not that old or wisdom or wisdom You will be giving us more chances. I'd be lucky to make it 40. Let's be honest. You know 40, you know ages and a bad thing It just means that like you've lived your life for make it to 40 You're gonna make it way longer than that. Yeah As of now, what are each of your top three bucket list items? Oh, I think they all involve traveling Which is places I really would like to go. love to travel to New Zealand and Egypt to Africa. Wow. Wow. Wow. Egypt. Okay. Egypt is a little different. I know. I know. But I thought of Egypt and then I was like, "As afar would be cool. I'll just say all of Africa." So they're all travel related? You for the moment, yes. I'm French. French. French. Yes. I have a Pinterest board bucket called bucket list. But most of it's travel. Still. Oh gosh. Oh, a minute. Stu on this one for a while. You go ahead. I guess learning another language would be a bucket list item. Having a family would be a bucket list. That's like a weird bucket list item. But it's something that we really want to do. And then third, I guess maybe go back to school. I just want to not regret later in life not doing things. Looking back and being like, "Wow. In my 20s and 30s, I could have done these things and now I'm old and time has kind of passed me by and I don't really have the opportunity to do it anymore." So I'll have to think about that but I'll say learning another language going back to school and having a family. Great. Yeah. That sounds like a good plan. And Maddie's going to go to Egypt. Are you going to Lowe's? I'm going to travel. I'm going to go to Lowe's. I'm so far away. I think she said she's going to go so far. I think it's a good hotel in South Africa. Perfect. I think you'll love it. But just be aware of the bugs. That's all I have to say. Oh, okay. I was 10 at the time. But I didn't really. Just walk around in a net. Maddie, what is Evan's hidden talent? Oh gosh. Okay. He's good at guitar. He's just wanting to be a beat boxer. What? Yes. Can we get in? Can we get a don't show you the road down some like please random rap sometimes? Can you beat box? No way! That's a yeah. That's all. No, I have a reason to visit to meet you. That's very and that was like some power behind it too. Yeah. That was really great. Thank you. Wow. Yeah. He's very talented. That's really great. He's a great offer. Great at sports. His hand-deck coordination is ridiculous. He also has a religiously good memory, especially from birthdays. Okay, I have to disagree with you on the hand-deck coordination because I was hit in the head by that lady. Oh no! So sorry. I just put these innocently in the corner and I get smelted in the head. It just totally sniped you with respect. It was a zip-jip. It was like a small, mean hand-deck. Right in the end. I feel so bad. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. No, I forgive you. It's fine. It was terrible. She had to throw that in there. It was so true. Call me out. Evan, what is Maddie's favorite food? Desert of any kind, but mostly ice cream. Now I was kind of surprised by the hesitation on the sorbet ice cream question because I was just so good. I just feel like it's ice cream for you. I just feel like it's ice cream. But maybe I'm just hot right now and I would love the sorbet, but yeah, you're right. It's definitely ice cream. Maddie, who is the biggest influence in your life right now? Evan. Okay, maybe someone else. What I'm not gonna lie. But just for the sake of, you know, like diversity and, you know, like the interview is not Maddie and Evan. Okay, fine, fine. I don't know. Just, you know, like who else? Yes. Well, we're together like 24/7. I know. So it's hard for you not to be mad at me. It's gotta be the coaches right now. It is the coaches, though. Marie and Patch and Roman and Jose and Pascal. They're even our ballet teacher, Eva. She's so great. I love her so much. Evan, other than Maddie, who is your dream dinner date living or dead? I would say Obama. Oh, yeah. That would be awesome. You know, for, yeah, I would say Obama. What cuisine would you have? Middle Eastern. Mediterranean. Mediterranean. Nice. And conversation topic. Gosh, it would be far ranging, you know. His life. He's like, he's just like, you know, culturally, he can speak on anything. And then politically, obviously. And then his experience and, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I would really just kind of like let it kind of take its own form and shape and not really try to make it feel like unnatural. I would just want like Barack and I to be like. Because he faces. Kind of just like, you know. But escalated quickly. Yeah. Yeah. Barack and I just begun best friends. But it's weird. Very, very interesting. I'd be chatting like so naturally together. And then we would like probably just shoot hoops afterwards. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Like it. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It. I want a location together. It seems like it's already happened in my mind. Well, Maddie's in Egypt. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Egypt with Michelle. It's okay. Oh, yeah. There you go. You have a plan. I'll add that to the bucket list. Oh, with Michelle Obama, Michelle Kwan and JVN. Oh my god. Oh, wow. Wow. That's a dream. That's a dream. That's the dream. That's on the dream board. Do you guys have a favorite quote? Oh, I have many. I love quotes. Evan told me I'm very. What? It could quote the other day. What was it? Knowledge is knowing what to say. And wisdom is knowing whether or not it needs to be said. Well, you need to let that sink in. Yes. Because sometimes it talks too much. No, that's. I love that. I know. It's like my new favorite quote. That's great. Evan, do you have a favorite? Did I just snatch it? I don't know. I did put a quote on Instagram that said something along the lines of if you want to leave your shoot, what has it got? If you want to leave. If you want to leave your footprints in the sands of time, don't drag your feet. Oh, yes. That's a good one. That's a really good one. So the final question for you too. What book do you recommend the most to others? Well, it depends. Like I say for someone who's like into psychology, like you, I read. Well, also thank you for turning me on the blinkist, which I use a lot and have been using blink as quite a bit. So like I've read a lot of blinks. But probably my favorite book that I read start to finish is Boys in the Boat, which is like a behemoth of a book is quite long, but it's historical nonfiction. It's a book about the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the the rowers who were from Seattle, who were just like, it's a great underdog story. It's a group of students who live through the Great Depression. And then spoiler alert, they went on to win a gold medal. I mean, it's a real survival alert. Sorry. So, but I think for like someone who's in the psychology, like you, like I've read some good books like Hard Wiring Happiness. And the same author wrote Buddhist Brain, which we like that book. What about you? We also love Harry Potter by the way. Oh my gosh. If we're going into that, we love Harry Potter. That's just an nostalgia and childhood, you know. There's, um, have you read any of Ruby colors? Oh, like the Sun in Her Flowers? Yeah. Yeah. I have. What was the first one called? It was the Sun in Her Flowers and Milk and Honey. Milk and Honey. So that you'd recommend those too? As a package deal, right? Yeah. They're beautiful. They're just a good for your soul. Yeah. Like, I love that. We're doing package deals and I'm going to recommend the two books by what is his name? He wrote Hard Wiring Happiness and Buddhist Brain. And he, you know, he speaks a lot of, just it's good. It's really good. You made up two of those together? They're by the same author. Okay. And they're kind of like psychology based books and you know, he talks a lot about like human preoccupation with just negativity. Like we harp on negative things so much and he explains that it's just part of our evolution and it's in our DNA. Like, you know, back when we were evolving, like we had to be aware of all the neg- all the threats coming at us just to survive. Yeah. So like our brains are hardwired to dwell on these negative things more often. Survival. And now in like the world is generally much safer than it was when we were evolving. And so like he talks about kind of the processes of hardwiring your brain for happiness because you can, you know, change the structure of your brain through neuroplasticity by practicing these techniques that he lays out and I think it's just really good for people who, you know, I think it's hard to be happy sometimes, you get so caught up in our own worlds and so. I got people's worlds with social media, everyone is a click away and it's hard to stay grounded and treat yourself and do things that make you happy instead of things that you think will make you look happy. Look, yeah, that's true. So these book recommendations will be put to good use because I introduced a new ritual on my podcast where I give my guest the book that was recommended by my previous guest. Oh okay, maybe we should just do one. So what I could say is I'm going to take the package deal with the happiness psychology for me to myself and then I'll give the next guest the the rowing one and then the poetry books too. Oh that's so nice. But you have some books. So the first one is recommended by Caitlin. You probably heard of it. It's the secret. Oh I haven't read that. You haven't read it. I haven't read that. So here's the book. I would love to read that. Thank you. I think you'll really enjoy it and then the other one is from Giam and they actually didn't have it in Dago. So it's coming from the wonderful Amazon. Oh my gosh. So I would show your amazing. So it's called origins, cosmos, earth and mankind and I'm going to read you a little description. Is it like Peter's taking? No it's Hubert Reeves. An astrophysicist, an organic chemist, and an anthropologist, ponder and discuss some of the basic questions that have obsessed humankind through the ages. And he read it in French but I thought we'd start with English until the bucket list has been ticked on. So that's on its way and hopefully you have some fun reading material. Oh thank you. And thank you so much for this chat. Oh my gosh. Nice little hand shake. We can go to AC now. Oh my goodness. But that was, you guys are so wide. But had we just followed the soap on? Buddy. It's okay. But come here. Thank you guys. I'm Lila and you've been listening to the Lila Joe show. You can follow the show on Instagram and Twitter. If you haven't yet, head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe, rate and review this podcast. Join me next time for another episode. Thanks for listening. [BLANK_AUDIO]