Virtue, Moir face deep field at worlds
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir returned from a two-year hiatus following their silver medal at the Sochi Olympics to post the two highest ice dance scores of all time. The Canadian power couple were making it clear they’re still among the best in the world.
They ’ll be chased by U.S. skaters at this year’s World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
The U.S. is sending a contingent to Helsinki this week, led by reigning silver medallists Maia and Alex Shibutani, that has every reason to believe it can knock Virtue and Moir from the top of the podium. Madison Chock and Evan Bates are the reigning world bronze medallists, while Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue are coming off silver medals at Skate America and Trophee de France.
“We’ve competed against a lot of these teams for many years, so in some ways it hasn’t changed,” Virtue said. “But what has changed is the depth in the field and the technical aspect.
“We watched the world championships last year from the stands and we were awed at the level of ice dance in the world right now.”
Their worlds begin Friday with the short dance and conclude with the free dance on Saturday. It’s an important benchmark heading into next year’s Winter Olympics.
Along with the Canadians and Americans, all eyes at Hartwall Arena will be on the pairing of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. The French team has captured the past two gold medals and will be trying for the first threepeat in ice dance in two decades.
But in those previous victories, Papadakis and Cizeron didn’t have Virtue and Moir in the field.
The 2010 Olympic gold medallists won gold at Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy last fall, then won their first Grand Prix Final in December. In doing so, Virtue and Moir broke their own world record with 197.22 points, two points clear of the total Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White posted when they won gold at the 2014 Sochi Games.