The Albany Gazette - Ailing Chock and Bates claim fifth US ice dance crown

Flu-like symptoms for both skaters almost prompted them to pull out of the deciding free dance in Columbus, Ohio.

But after testing themselves in the warm up, they opted to go ahead and delivered a smooth performance to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".

"It was really thanks to Madi," Bates told broadcaster NBC. "I was really on the fence about whether I wanted to do it today, to be honest. But she's so tough and so strong.

"She wasn't feeling well either, but we just put our willpower together and gutted through it."

Illness might have accounted for a couple of uncharacteristic wobbles from Bates. The couple's demanding lifts were rock solid, but their free-skate score of 123.75 was second to the 126.85 of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko.

But with a near nine-point lead after a record-setting rhythm dance score, Chock and Bates grabbed the gold with a total of 215.92 points with Carreira and Ponomarenko second on 210.04.

Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville were third with a total of 196.94.

"We didn't know how we were going to feel when we got to the event tonight, but in my heart I wanted to do it and I knew we could do it," Chock said. "It was just a decision we had to make between the two of us to decide whether it was worth it and it was worth it."

The US duo -- who broke through for a first Grand Prix Final title in Beijing in December after coming up short six times in the prestigious event -- will now look to defend their title at the World Championships in Montreal on March 18-24.

At last year's worlds in Saitama, Chock and Bates finally claimed their first title at their 10th World Championships.

This season, they notched wins at Skate America and the Grand Prix Espoo, but their health worries this week cast doubt on whether they will be able to defend their Four Continents title in Shanghai, where competition begins on Thursday.

Pairs competition was set to conclude later Saturday.

Emily Chan and Spencer Howe topped the pairs standings after the short program.

But with Howe still recovering from shoulder surgery for a torn labrum, the duo withdrew from the free skate -- hoping they had shown enough to gain selection to World Championships team.

Their withdrawal left second-year pair Elli Kam and Danny O'Shea, last year's US championships bronze medalists, atop the standings ahead of Katie McBeath and Danill Parkman with Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez also in position to battle for a podium place.

(T.Wright--TAG)