Congratulations to Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, 2010 Olympic Champions in ice dance!
Tessa & Scott performed a mesmerizing program to Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler which thrilled the audience at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, hundreds of supporters gathered in Ilderton and millions around the world. Their first place total score of 221.57 not only won them a gold medal, but also the honour of being the first North American and the youngest pair to ever win the Olympic Title — a truly historic moment.
Asked what it felt like to be announced as Olympic Champions, Scott said, “Amazing. It’s just the best feeling in the world. We believed. We dreamed of this moment for so long. Everybody in Canada was behind us. Everybody at Pacific Coliseum all week was behind us. We were out there for them and the whole country. It felt so right and I’m so happy. It was all so worth it – everything we’ve ever done is just all so worth it.”
Tessa added, “We’ve dreamed of this for so long and imagined it in our heads. It’s so much better to actually live it. This has been such a journey and so many people have been with us, so thank you.”
Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier also performed a terrific free dance to Nocturne & Bohemian Rhapsody to earn 164.60 points and allow them to move up three places to finish in fourteenth overall. This event wasn’t about medals for Vanessa & Paul, but about building valuable experience as this young team continues to grow. To that end, it was a very successful competition.
Paul described his experience by saying, “It felt amazing. I can’t even describe the feeling of the support from the Canadian audience. It felt so proud to be Canadian to see how much we support our athletes. I enjoyed it so much, and I am so glad to say I am officially an Olympian. It was definitely something I enjoyed.”
Vanessa described the feeling of skating at the Olympics for the first time, in front of a home crowd; “My first experience was amazing. The crowd definitely uplifted us, and they had so much support and love. I felt very comfortable on the ice. I feel like that was the strongest performance we’ve done this season, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Patrick Chan competed in the Men’s event earlier in the Games. He finished fifth.
Photo Credits: Medal photo © VANOC, Tessa & Scott © Erica Armstrong
