Madison Chuck and Evan Bates, Olympic gold medalists, join us down here under the podium at the Big board.
Welcome to the New York Stock Exchange.
It's great to have both of you.
Thank you so much.
Good to be here.
I'm sure it's been an absolute whirlwind since coming off these last Olympic Games, but on top of all the other amazing experiences, can I ask you both what it's like to join us down here for closing bell at the Big Board?
It has been absolutely incredible, such a dream come true to be a part of such a historic moment.
We are big fans of the New York Stock Exchange and to be here standing amongst all the excitement that takes place on the trading floor is really special.
Yeah, well, we're big fans of.
Yours as well, so you're welcome back anytime.
Talk to me kind of holistically now you've had maybe a week or two to digest.
None of us can ever imagine what it's like to compete as Olympians, but how did this last experience kind of match up with broader international competition that you both are so used to?
We brought our absolute A game to the Olympics in Milan.
We couldn't have done anything more as far as how we performed, how we prepared, even, you know, the way we conducted ourselves off the ice.
We were really proud of every facet of our experience, and representing Team USA is always the ultimate honor and especially in the Olympic Games.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Uh, so here's kind of a personal question for me.
I, I know in, in your you call them routine.
Pardon me, I'm not, I'm not so, so just for your far better athletes than I am.
Bee Gees, Donna Summer, lots of Lenny Kravitz.
I've always wondered when I watch these things at home, how do you go about choosing which musical artists you, you want to perform to?
That is honestly the most challenging part of the season is picking music that you're going to skate to for the rest of the year because you want something that really resonates, something that you love, something that the audience will enjoy.
And uh we spend a lot of time and put a lot of thought into our music choice.
It's awesome.
Talk to me about the Stars on Ice tour set to kick off in a few weeks.
What can fans expect, especially for millions of fans who may have just been introduced to you for the first time and now might be really eager to see you with regards to what comes next after the Olympics.
It's the best place to come see the best skaters in the world.
We've got every single member of the gold medal winning US Olympic figure skating team, as well as many of the other skaters, all going to be on the cast.
We're doing 29 shows across the US starting in April.
It's the biggest tour we've done in years, and we can't wait to see you guys there.
Dare I ask what rehearsals for things like that look like?
I guess it's, it's so much more difficult than any of us know.
Oh, the rehearsals are jammed packed.
Uh, we usually do it over 3 days.
We learn probably 4 to 6 group numbers.
And then we practice our individual numbers where we have 2 solos.
So it'll be busy, but it'll be fun because we'll be with our friends.
You said only 3 days to do that whole thing.
But, but really the rehearsal is a lifetime because we've been working on our skills since we were kids and even the program that we're going to be performing at Stars on Ice is the same program we performed in Milan.
So you'll get a chance to see some competitive highlights right in your backyard.
How do you go about crafting the creative vision for something like this, the visuals and how it all comes together to, to build the ultimate fan experience?
That's a great question.
Uh, well, that is really up to our stage crew.
They, they take the stage and they turn it into the show landscape, if you will.
Uh, we'll have some probably fog machines, some curtains, some screens, so it'll be a really nice visual experience for the audience, uh.
As well as enhancing the performance that we have on the ice.
Amazing.
Well, we're super grateful for the time for both of you before I let you go.
What is your message to fans, either diehard fans of the sport who have been watching you play for years or compete for years, as well as for everyone who may have just been introduced to you recently in the last month for the first time.
We want to say thank you.
You know, we're so grateful for the support.
There's no greater honor than representing our country on the Olympic stage, and we felt so loved and so supported, and your appreciation for what we do makes us feel really special.
And we hope to see you at Stars on Ice.
Come say hi.
That's awesome.
We look forward to being there at Madison Ey.
Congratulations.
Thanks for bringing the medals, by the way.
It's awesome to have both of you come back and see us anytime.
Thank you.
