Dynamic duo Virtue, Moir make history

You can't fake this kind of chemistry.

The connection between ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir runs deep — beginning as a friendship forged in their childhood, progressing to a teenage romance, before finally blossoming into a dynamic duo of Olympic gold medallists Monday night.

They began skating together when she was seven and he was nine, at a skating club in Ilderton, Ont., a town of about 2,000 people just north of London.

From the beginning it has been a perfect match. The first time she laid eyes on her skating partner, Virtue said, she had a crush on him.

But Moir needed a little convincing, since he usually liked older girls.

Their entire skating career has revolved around each other, and Virtue won't even entertain the thought of gliding alongside a different partner.

Teenage sweethearts

The connection they have on the ice goes beyond the show they regularly put on for the judges. In their teens, they started dating for a short period, but the off-ice romance nearly derailed their careers before they reached their first major international competition.

After they decided to break up socially, they actually started communicating better with each other on and off the ice.

But the romantic bond they once formed — like that of Canadian pairs gold medallists Jamie Salé and David Pelletier — has seemed to give them an edge over their competitors.

Virtue and Moir's free dance program to the gushy music of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5   portrays a story about young lovers.

"They talked about it being about love and hope and promise," CBCSports.ca figure-skating analyst Pj Kwong said. "Watching it, I felt as if they represented all of those things."

Kwong, who was also the announcer Monday at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum, said it seemed the connection between Virtue and Moir was far more real than the bond between any of the other pairs.

In a judged, artistic sport such as ice dance, having good chemistry can be just as valuable as the execution of technical elements.

Young ice dancers seen as innovators

Virtue and Moir are fortunate to have all the tools of the trade.

They possess artistic prowess and the technical skill to execute precise, risky manoeuvres such as their signature move, the "Goose," a hands-free lift where Virtue balances her bent knee on Moir's back, placing her skate on his thigh, as he glides sideways.

Virtue used to incorporate a dismount into a one-revolution rotation before landing backward on one foot. But officials ruled that kind of a jump out of the lift violates ice dance rules, so Virtue and Moir have altered the ending of the "Goose," so she falls into his arms at the end.

Despite their youth, Virtue, 20, and Moir, 22, are already considered innovators for raising the bar in athleticism required to earn the highest score possible.

Not only have they made history as the first North American pair to win the Olympic ice dance gold, they are also the youngest duo to accomplish the feat.

It's earning them some high praise, including comparisons to ice dance legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of Britain.

Bounced back from injury

Although Virtue and Moir have experienced more than their share of success in their young careers — silver at the world championships in 2008, a bronze in 2009 and now Olympic gold — they have also dealt with some adversity.

Last season's bronze medal was a huge boost to their confidence, since it came after they were forced to miss the entire Grand Prix schedule due to an injury that Virtue suffered.

She needed surgery to relieve severe pain in her shins, caused by chronic exertional compartment syndrome, a condition that comes from overtraining.

They missed significant training time and competed in only four events before the worlds, but still managed to reach the podium in Los Angeles, edging training partners Meryl Davis and Charlie White by just 4-100ths of a point.

"To be able to pull it together on such little training and to be able to get to that mentally, as well as [being able to perform] physically, is a great advantage for us," Virtue said at the time. "I remember thinking, 'If we can get through this, we can get through almost anything.' "

Moir believes the experience made them stronger than ever.

"We had no business being there [at the worlds]," he said. "We hadn't done anything. To look back [now] it's like, 'Wow, we can do that?' It really helps us. We feel like we can perform under any circumstances. [It was a big] learning step."

With a healthy season under their belts, they knew Olympic gold was well within their reach. The tricky part, as many Canadian athletes know, is executing in the moment of competition.

But with a narrow lead heading into the final free dance Monday, Virtue and Moir unleashed a performance that left no doubt that they are the best in the world.

And, with intricate moves like the "Goose" in their arsenal, it could be a while before they are knocked off that perch.