For a team to win an Olympic gold medal,
I think it takes a moment.
Even though there is pressure, crowd, cameras, this and that,
they can just completely act as one person,
move as one person, and then it just flows.
The work we have left to do, it's the most difficult,
because to have a chance to be on the podium,
you need to reach perfection.
At the end, it could make you Olympic champion.
ON EDGE
Well, we just arrived at our Airbnb in Nashville.
It's our last US Championships.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.
We finished our short.
And throughout those three minutes,
there were a few slips.
We really skated full out, but you need to skate clean.
And we watched Madison and Evan skate a clean program.
We've been competing against Zach and Madi for so long.
Without a rivalry, it's hard to really push yourself.
You know, two and a half points in ice dance is substantial.
But, you know, it takes a lot of strength
to have faith in the process,
have faith in the training that you've done.
It was really important for us to be able to say goodbye
to our 11-year journey together here at the US Champs
and have our parents see us skate live
for probably the last time.
The last couple of years Madi and Zach
and Evan and I have been trading off
that national championship title.
We love that they are our rivals.
The free dance score
for Madison Chock and Evan Bates, 135.43.
It feels heavy.
There's just that little thing that's missing,
you know, another gold,
a fourth title is what we came here for.
To win the national title in an Olympic year,
I think it's a little extra special for us.
We put our hearts into it and it showed.
In these last few weeks leading up to the Games,
we're really focused on adding in some little nuances
and texture to the choreography that we already have.
I think we're right on track.
Maddie and Evan,
they've impressed me this season.
You know, they just put their little work hat on
and put in the hours.
To be able to go to the Olympics
with all of our friends and our true skating family,
it would just be the most incredible feeling.
Did you like the jacket?
Yeah, yeah. But I like it a lot.
How did the jacket feel?
She said it was slippery.
Does she have a shoulder pad?
We are going to find out.
It looks like you should have one.
Maddie and Evan have two very good programs.
Overall it was a good performance.
Yeah, just make sure you finish every single,
like a little bit more attention to finishing with it.
-Okay. -Okay.
They know that their weakness
could be their skating skills,
but I still think they have a good chance.
Five, six, seven, and waaaa, drop low!
And press, boom!
Wow!
Lilah and Lewis,
they are kind of like the underdogs,
but they are coming for it.
Are you guys thinking of inhaling at this time?
And boom! Yes, yes, yes.
Inhaling is going to naturally open everything.
With a few weeks away from the Games,
it's really for us, just about finding
those final tweaks on elements,
like what can we push further?
Five, six, seven, eight, and waaa!
I'm so excited to skate over the Olympic rings.
It's fun to say I want to go to the Olympics.
And then now I can say we are.
Little more? It was better.
I liked the angle, when you did the twizzle,
-like the back stretch... -I was a bit close.
Too close.
It's been an amazing season so far.
-Beginning lift? -There'll be a lot of PST.
Yeah, and then PST? Okay, okay.
I think just actually being at the Games
would be an unbelievable feeling.
And missing out four years ago
was just such like heartache.
There it is.
I think it's better like this.
I like the sharp edge that you guys do.
That's nice, that's nice.
So for Lilah and Lewis,
Laurence and Nik,
and Olivia and Adrián,
I don't think they have a big, big chance to be on the podium.
They maybe have a chance
if there is some mistake in front of them.
-Oh my goodness. -Oh!
The stakes are so high.
We all know that all of our couples are friends.
But let's be honest,
they're all aiming for that same spot, that podium.
This one didn't work.
I don't know if you felt it.
Whatever it was, it wasn't it.
That wasn't it at all.
Last Olympics was a little bit of a downer for them.
I think there's no worse spot than fourth.
Your mask is very loose, Gabi.
It is very loose, it takes air.
Yeah, it does.
It's a big mask for a big mouth.
Mask sizes are...
Well there are kid's and adult's masks.
Gabriella and Guillaume are of course
my oldest students.
Make sure you're leaning forward.
It was good.
Still, the last one was a little...
You have to stay closer together.
I worked with them for the longest times.
And they are, I think, the favorite for the Olympic gold.
Gabriella Papadakis, Guillaume Cizeron.
French Nationals went very well.
We won, so we got our title back.
French national champions.
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
Our biggest competition at the Olympics this year
is going to be the Russian team
because they're the only ones that was able to beat us
two years ago at Europeans,
so I think we are trying to use it as fuel to work harder.
Gabriella Papadakis, Guillaume Cizeron from France.
Gabi and Guillaume, last Olympics
were a little bitter for them,
because they were so close to win.
And you can see that they've got
a problem with the costume.
You can see the costume has, her neck,
necklace has come apart.
The two years with COVID, they needed that break.
They needed to kill some of this stuff,
some of the trauma of past Olympics.
Yeah, they're not going to let this one go.
Dance that twizzle! Dance it! Dance!
Most of the athletes here in Montreal at I.AM
are impressive.
They seem cool, calm and collected,
business as usual,
and I think that's the strength of being
in an environment like this.
Just everyone kind of ups their game.
They understand,
this is Olympic season, it's all a little different.
Scott Moir was a great competitor.
He was Olympic champion in Vancouver in 2010,
then in 2014, had a silver medal,
and then finished his career in 2018 with another gold.
All these teams can have their moment,
but it's that final threshold
you gotta be able to get across,
and it takes so much preparation,
physically and mentally, to be able to do it.
That's the beauty of the Games.
Yeah, we can feel the pressure building.
And the stakes are high. It's our last season.
It's our last chance at the Olympic Games,
and Zach and I, we want to win gold.
And most people in the room
don't think it's going to happen.
So you know what? Don't count me out.
Let's see on that day.
Every skater steps on that ice and sees the rings
and craps their pants.
The most comfortable Tessa and I were
at the Olympics was when our music started
because we had done the preparation.
So put the work in, do the training,
and be ready for how uncomfortable
it's going to be until you get to your moment.
I think it takes years and years of preparation
to be able to stand on the Olympic podium.
We've done the work.
It's the fear of like not winning
that makes us train harder.
They've done the work.
Physically, emotionally, mentally,
and now it's up to the judges to choose.
We are as ready as we'll ever be.
Now it's time. We're ready to go.
Hey, everybody, we just came back from Ottawa.
Because we were chosen for the Canadian Olympic team.
Just super excited and so happy
that we realized our dream.
Stay tuned.
In competition, I suddenly have superstitions.
We used to make sure that the guards
were totally lined up together.
And then now we're at the point where we don't want that.
So we throw them.
-Throwing away those doubts. -Yeah.
We can officially say that Adrián and I
have made the Olympic team for Spain this year.
-Yes! -We're more than grateful
we'll be able to call ourselves Olympians.
So thank you everybody for your support
-and we'll see you in Beijing. -Bye!
Headed to the rink.
We're really working on every last little detail,
just the last stretch
before the biggest competition of our lives.
If you ask me, what's the perfect Olympic experience,
I'm leaving with a team gold
and I'm leaving with an individual gold.
Like whose definition wouldn't be that?
You'd have to be crazy.
That's what we're continuing to work on is our formula.
What makes us feel the best, so we're ready to perform.
So inspired. Let's go, let's go!