Chock and Bates win record-setting seventh U.S. figure skating title

Madison Chock and Evan Bates won a record-setting seventh U.S. figure skating title with a season-best free dance score of 228.87, and Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik and Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko finished second and third.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates won a record-setting seventh U.S. figure skating title on Saturday in St. Louis, delivering a season-best free dance. The win came at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, their final competition before the Milan-Cortina Olympics. They performed a flamenco-styled free dance to a version of "Paint It Black" and finished with 228.87 points. Chock and Bates have won the past three world titles and three Grand Prix Final golds, and they placed fourth at the Beijing Olympics. Key results: - Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the free dance and the U.S. title with a season-best 228.87 points. - Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik finished second with 213.65 points. - Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko placed third with 206.95 points. - The championships were held at Enterprise Center in St. Louis and served as the final national competition before the Milan-Cortina Olympics. - Sibling team Oona and Gage Brown finished fifth but received a standing ovation for their program set to music from The Godfather. - The article reports that Zingas/Kolesnik and Carreira/Ponomarenko are likely choices to join Chock and Bates on the U.S. Olympic team. Summary: Chock and Bates' victory further cements their position at the top of U.S. ice dance as they prepare to compete at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. The U.S. team picture appears to include Zingas/Kolesnik and Carreira/Ponomarenko alongside them, as reported. Their next major event is the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.