Just two years ago, Madison Hubbell was on the podium at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, winning a team gold medal and a bronze medal in ice dance. Since then, Hubbell has married Spanish ice dancer Adrian Diaz and recently gave birth to a daughter, Chloe Diaz Hubbell. She’s also coaching in London, Ontario, with her husband and Olympic champion Scott Moir. Hubbell is a mentor and key member of the coaching staff for current U.S. silver medalists Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, who notched a 7th-place finish at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal. Hubbell commented to reporters in Montreal about the team’s performance in Montreal and her life as a coach.
Q: Congratulations on your new baby!
Hubbell: Thank you. She is healthy and happy. My parents generously came to help take care of her [during Worlds], so that she didn’t have to be in the big arena with everybody.
Q: Carreira and Ponomarenko praise you and say that you’re a mentor to them, that you really calm them down. Can you talk about that? How do you help them get everything under control and focus on the mental aspect?
Hubbell: I think with each student, it’s probably different. Obviously, different athletes are [each] going to need something different, right before they step out on the ice. For Christina and Anthony, they have that dynamic quality. They have a lot of experience skating together. So I don’t really need to give them many physical cues, or amp them up, like some other skaters might need. For them, they need to take a deep breath and trust in themselves. And I’m there to remind them of that. As much as they might admire me, I admire them.
Q: This has been a breakout season for Carreira/Ponomarenko. To what do you attribute their rise?
Hubbell: I think to trusting their team. Their team is huge, so it can be quite difficult, when there’s so many voices. But they’ve really taken ownership of what needs to be taken care of. They do their workouts, they follow their plan, they show up every day with a great attitude. And they let us take care of the rest, and they don’t question. I think having that peace of mind frees up so much energy for an athlete. I believe they’ve broken 200 points [in their score at Worlds]. That’s a big deal.
Q: Did you expect them to have this level of success this season?
Hubbell: I think ‘expect’ is the wrong word. You can never know what to expect, right? We see it all the time–big mistakes, and also big shocks. But certainly, I thought they did everything in their power to have that success. That’s all we could ask for.
Q: Are you taking as much pleasure and sense of achievement in being a coach as you did in being a champion?
Hubbell: I think it’s different. As a coach, I don’t feel the same excitement about a certain placement, as I do just seeing an athlete feel [good]. For me, the moment that I’m excited for is the moment out on the ice at the end of a program, and if they feel like they did their best. The kiss ‘n cry is the most awkward moment for a coach. Because you don’t know what’s going to happen [with scores]. You’re trying to prepare what to say, depending on if it’s good or bad. But I think the athlete often celebrates in both places. For the coach, you have to kind of separate yourself from the result.
Q: Christina Carreira said that you’ve helped her feel like she is “enough.” Do you think she didn’t feel that before? That she wasn’t confident, or didn’t feel that the skating world appreciated her?
Hubbell: You might say it’s the skating world …I think that almost every person, at some point, goes through something. A period of time when they question, what is their value? There’s not many people that can go through life without ever wondering if they’re good enough. And unfortunately, when I first started coaching with Christina, she might have been there, a little bit. You know, she’s always admired Anthony’s skill. And certainly, people would talk about the fact that he is a legacy athlete [the son of 1992 Olympic champions Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko]. And that can be a really hard thing to feel like you have to compete against, or live up to. But of course, it’s not how Anthony ever thought about her. And they’ve responded so quickly [to new coaching]. I think they’ve grown so much in the last year, in their relationship. It’s just how much they’re able to support each other and show up and make each other feel admired by the other.