Madison Hubbell (born February 24, 1991) is an American former ice dancer. She competed with Zachary Donohue from 2011 to 2022. With him, she is a two-time 2022 Winter Olympics medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, the 2014 Four Continents champion, and a three-time U.S. national champion (2018–2019, 2021).
She competed in ice dance with her brother Keiffer Hubbell from 2001 to 2011. With him, she is the 2010 Four Continents bronze medalist, 2006 JGP Final champion, and two-time U.S. national pewter medalist (2009, 2011).
Personal life Madison Hubbell was born on February 24, 1991, in Lansing, Michigan. She is the daughter of Susan, a seamstress, and Brad Hubbell, a lawyer, and has two older brothers, Keiffer and Zachary.
Hubbell began dating Spanish ice dancer Adrián Díaz in 2014. The couple announced their engagement in April 2018. They got married on June 7, 2023, in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain. They have a daughter, Chloe, born in February 2024.
Early career Madison Hubbell started skating as a five-year-old. She began ice dancing at age eight, skating with her first partner, Nicholas Donahue, for one year. She teamed up with her brother, Keiffer Hubbell, in early 2001. They originally represented the Lansing Skating Club in competition.
Competing on the juvenile level, the Hubbells placed 7th at the 2002 U.S. Junior Championships and won gold at the 2003 U.S. Junior Championships. They began representing the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club in the 2003–2004 season. They won gold competing on the intermediate level at the 2004 U.S. Junior Championships.
In the 2004–2005 season, the Hubbells moved up to the novice level, which is the first level that competes at the U.S. Championships. At the 2005 U.S. Championships, the Hubbells finished 5th overall. At the Estonia International Dance Competition, which was their first major international event, the Hubbells won all three segments of the competition and won the gold medal. This medal qualified the Hubbells for the USFSA reserve team for the following season.
The Hubbells won the novice silver medal at the 2006 U.S. Championships, scoring 1.39 points less than the champions, Cathy Reed / Chris Reed.
2006–2007 season: Junior debut The Hubbells moved up to the junior level both nationally and internationally. Making their ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in Courchevel, France, the Hubbells placed second in the compulsory and original dances and then won the free dance. They won the silver medal behind Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev by a margin of 0.78 points. The Hubbells were then assigned to their second event, in The Hague, Netherlands. They placed third in the compulsory dance segment and then won both the original and free dances to win the gold medal overall by a margin of victory of 1.84 points ahead of silver medalists Grethe Grünberg / Kristian Rand. These two placements combined qualified them for the 2006–2007 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, for which the Hubbells were the third-ranked qualifiers. Qualifying for the event had also given them a bye to the U.S. Championships.
At the Junior Grand Prix Final, the Hubbells placed second in the Midnight Blues compulsory dance by a margin of 0.17 points behind Bobrova/Soloviev. They won both the original and free dances to win the gold medal overall by a margin of victory of 2.17 points ahead of silver medalists and training mates Emily Samuelson / Evan Bates.
At the 2007 U.S. Championships, the Hubbells placed second in both compulsory dances behind Samuelson/Bates. They won the original dance and went into the free dance in first place overall, where they placed second. They won the silver medal overall, placing second by a margin of 0.17 points behind champions Samuelson / Bates, and 24.56 points ahead of bronze medalists and training-mates Lynn Kriengkrairut / Logan Giulietti-Schmitt. The top three junior dance teams were named to the 2007 Junior Worlds, and all three junior teams were coached by Yaroslava Nechaeva and Yuri Chesnichenko.
At the 2007 Junior Worlds, the Hubbells both fell in the Silver Samba compulsory dance and placed twelfth in that segment of the competition. They placed fifth in the original dance and fourth in the free dance to move up to place sixth overall.
2007–2008 season The Hubbells withdrew from their 2007–08 Junior Grand Prix events and missed the fall season due to an injury to Keiffer. They returned to competition at the Midwestern Sectional Championships, winning all three segments to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Championships. At the national championships, the Hubbells won the compulsory dance, placed third in the original dance, and then won the free dance to win the gold medal overall. At the 2008 World Junior Championships, the Hubbells placed fifth in all three segments of the competition and fifth overall.
2008–2009 season: Senior national debut
The Hubbells moved up to the senior level nationally and remained juniors internationally. They competed on the 2008–09 Junior Grand Prix circuit. At their first event in Mexico City, Mexico, they won all three segments of the competition to win the gold medal by a margin of victory of 17.26 points ahead of silver medalists Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill. The Hubbells were then assigned to their second event, the event in Cape Town, South Africa, where they again won all three segments of the competition to win the gold medal by a margin of victory of 9.25 points ahead of silver medalists Piper Gilles and Zachary Donohue. These two placements combined qualified them for the 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, for which the Hubbells were the top-ranked qualifiers. Qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final also gave them a bye to the U.S. Championships.
The Junior Grand Prix Final was held for the first time concurrently with the Grand Prix Final and therefore did not include a compulsory dance segment. The Hubbells fell during the original dance and placed sixth in that segment of the competition. They placed second in the free skate and won the silver medal overall, scoring 6.47 points less than champions Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein.
The Hubbells made their senior national debut at the 2009 U.S. Championships. They placed fourth in the compulsory dance, the original dance, and the free dance, to place fourth overall and win the pewter medal. At the 2009 World Junior Championships, the Hubbells placed second in the compulsory dance, third in the original dance, and fourth in the free skate to place fourth overall, scoring 0.46 points less than bronze medalists Ekaterina Riazanova and Jonathan Guerreiro.
2009–2010 season: Four Continents bronze Following the 2009 Trophée Éric Bompard competition, the Hubbells moved from Yaroslava Nechaeva and Yuri Chesnichenko, who had coached them in Ann Arbor, Michigan for ten years, to Pasquale Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova in Detroit. They won the bronze medal at the 2010 Four Continents Championships.
2010–2011 season The Hubbells finished fourth at the 2011 U.S. Championships. On May 12, 2011, they announced the end of their partnership. Keiffer had experienced hip and back problems and was undecided about his future.
Hubbell and Donohue 2011–2012 season
On May 12, 2011, U.S. Figure Skating announced that Hubbell had teamed up with Zachary Donohue. The two decided to train at the Detroit Skating Club under the guidance of the coaching team of Pasquale Camerlengo, Anjelika Krylova, and Natalia Annenko-Deller.
Hubbell and Donohue made their international debut at the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, winning the gold medal. After taking bronze at the 2012 U.S. Championships, they were selected to compete at two ISU Championships; they placed fifth at the 2012 Four Continents in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and tenth at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, France.
2012–2013 season Hubbell and Donohue took bronze at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy and competed at two Grand Prix events. They placed fifth at the 2012 Skate Canada International and fourth at the 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard (second in the free dance). After finishing fourth at the 2013 U.S. Championships, they were not selected for any ISU Championships.
2013–2014 season: Four Continents gold
After sustaining a concussion in June 2013, Hubbell spent six weeks recuperating. She attributed the injury to a "lack of focus, as painful as that is to admit. I finished twizzles, I did my 3-turn, and I fell off my heel."
Hubbell and Donohue won gold at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, placed fourth at the 2013 Skate America, and won their first Grand Prix medal, bronze, at the 2013 Skate Canada International. After placing fourth at the 2014 U.S. Championships, they were assigned to the 2014 Four Continents Championships and finished ahead of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier to take the gold medal. Hubbell and Donohue were first alternates for the 2014 World Championships but did not take the slot made available when Meryl Davis and Charlie White withdrew; Hubbell had sustained a torn labrum in her left hip and underwent surgery in March 2014.
2014–2015 season Hubbell and Donohue won bronze at both of their Grand Prix events, the 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 Trophée Éric Bompard, and then took bronze at the 2015 U.S. Championships. They placed 10th at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China.
On April 13, 2015, Hubbell and Donohue announced that they had started training with Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon at the Centre Gadbois in Montreal.
2015–2016 season In November 2015, Hubbell and Donohue won their first Grand Prix title, taking gold at the 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard in Bordeaux as a result of their first place in the short dance, ahead of Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The second day of competition was canceled due to the November 2015 Paris attacks. After winning bronze at the 2015 NHK Trophy, the two qualified to their first Grand Prix Final, where they finished sixth.
Hubbell and Donohue took the bronze medal at the 2016 U.S. Championships. They placed fourth at the 2016 Four Continents Championships in Taipei and sixth at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.
2016–2017 season Ranked third in both segments at the 2017 U.S. Championships, Hubbell and Donohue remained national bronze medalists for a third consecutive year. In February, they placed fourth in the short dance, sixth in the free, and fourth overall at the 2017 Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea.
In March, Hubbell and Donohue won a small bronze medal for their short dance at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. They dropped to ninth overall after placing tenth in the free dance.
2017–2018 season: World silver Hubbell and Donohue began their season with gold at the 2017 CS U.S. International Classic. After taking bronze at the 2017 Skate Canada International and silver at the 2017 NHK Trophy, they qualified to their third consecutive Grand Prix Final. They finished fourth at the event in Nagoya, Japan.
At the 2018 U.S. Championships, Hubbell and Donohue placed second behind Maia and Alex Shibutani in the short dance and then second to Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the free dance. They won their first national title by a margin of 0.19 over the Shibutanis and 0.52 over Chock/Bates. All of the ice dancing medalists were named to the U.S. Olympic team.
Hubbell and Donohue were not selected for the team event, but competed in the individual ice dancing event. In the short dance, they placed third, behind Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, and 0.02 points ahead of the Shibutanis. In the free dance, Donohue put both hands down in the middle of a sliding move, which constituted a technical fall. As a result, they finished fifth in the free dance and fourth overall.