Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are Canadian retired ice dancers. They are the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medallist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017), a three-time Four Continents champion (2008, 2012, 2017), the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final champion, an eight-time Canadian National champion (2008–2010, 2012–2014, 2017–2018), the 2006 World Junior champion and the 2006 Junior Grand Prix gold medallists. Virtue and Moir are also the 2018 Olympic gold medallists in the team event and the 2014 Olympic silver medallists in the team event. Upon winning their third Olympic gold they became the most decorated Olympic figure skaters of all time. Widely regarded as one of the greatest ice dance teams of all time, they are the only ice dancers in history to achieve a Super Slam, having won all major international competitions in their senior and junior careers. Virtue and Moir are holders of the world record score for the now-defunct original dance.
Virtue and Moir were paired in 1997, aged seven and nine. They are the 2004 Canadian junior champions and became Canada's top ice dance team in 2007. They are the 2008 World silver medallists and the 2009 World bronze medallists and became the first ice dance team to receive a 10.0 for a program component score under the new ISU Judging System. In 2010, they became the first ice dancers from North America to win an Olympic gold medal, ending the 34-year streak of the Europeans. Virtue and Moir are the youngest ice dance team ever to win an Olympic title and the first ice dancers to win a gold medal in their Olympic debut.
Virtue and Moir continued to be one of the world's top ice dance teams after their first Olympic victory in 2010. They are the 2010 and 2012 World champions, the 2011 and 2013 World silver medallists, and the 2014 Olympic ice dance and team event silver medallists. After taking a two-season break from the sport, they returned to competition in the fall of 2016 and became the 2017 World champions, having an unprecedented undefeated season. At the 2018 Olympics, they became only the second ice dance team in history to have won two Olympic gold medals in the individual event.
Having skated together for over twenty years, Virtue and Moir are the longest-standing ice dance team in Canadian history. In 2018, Time magazine noted that "they've become especially beloved by new and returning spectators alike for their passionate performances and undeniable chemistry, on and off the ice". On September 17, 2019, Virtue and Moir announced that they are "stepping away" from the sport after 22 years as ice dancing partners. In 2020, Virtue and Moir were inducted to the Order of Canada "for their athletic excellence and for inspiring a new generation of figure skaters", and in 2023, they were inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
Career Early career Virtue and Moir began skating together in 1997, at the ages of seven and nine respectively, paired together by his aunt Carol Moir, who had been coaching both of them individually. Early in their career, after departing from their first skating club in Ilderton, Ontario, Virtue and Moir trained in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, under Paul MacIntosh and Suzanne Killing. They were the pre-novice champions at the 2001 Canadian Championships.
In the 2001–02 season, Virtue and Moir won the bronze medal at the 2002 Canadian Championships at the novice level. The following season, they placed seventh at the 2003 Canadian Championships in the junior division.
2003–04 season: Junior Grand Prix debut
In 2003–04, Virtue and Moir made their ISU Junior Grand Prix debut on the 2003–04 ISU Junior Grand Prix. They placed fourth at the event in Croatia and 6th in Slovakia. At the 2004 Canadian Championships, they won the Junior title, qualifying them for the team to the 2004 World Junior Championships, where they placed 11th. Over the summer of 2004, Virtue and Moir moved to Canton, Michigan, and began working with Russian coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena.
2004–05 season: JGPF and Junior World Silver For the 2004-05 season, Virtue and Moir moved up to the national senior level but remained juniors internationally. On the 2004–05 ISU Junior Grand Prix, they won their event in China and won the silver medal at the event in France, which qualified them for their first Junior Grand Prix Final, where they won the silver medal. They made their senior national debut at the 2005 Canadian Championships and placed fourth. They were named to the team to the 2005 World Junior Championships, where they won the silver medal.
2005–06 season: Junior Grand Prix and World Junior titles Virtue and Moir remained at the junior level internationally in the 2005–06 season. On the 2005–06 ISU Junior Grand Prix, they won both of their assigned events as well as the Junior Grand Prix Final.
At the 2006 Canadian Championships, Virtue and Moir placed third and were named first alternates to the Olympic team. In spite of still being on the junior circuit, their placement led to them being named to the team to the 2006 Four Continents, their first international senior competition, where they won the bronze medal. At the 2006 World Junior Championships, they became the first Canadian ice dance team to win the title. As of this season, having gone undefeated in the international junior circuit, Virtue and Moir are the most decorated junior-level Canadian ice dancers.
2006–07 season: Grand Prix debut
In the 2006–07 season, Virtue and Moir competed solely on the senior level. They made their Grand Prix debut at the 2006 Skate Canada International, where they won the silver medal. They placed 4th at the 2006 Trophée Éric Bompard.
At the 2007 Canadian Championships, Virtue and Moir won the silver medal, and repeated their bronze medal finish at Four Continents. Their debut at the World Championships was the highest debut by any team in over two decades when they placed sixth.
2007–08 season: Four Continents title and World Silver
Virtue and Moir were assigned to Skate Canada International and the NHK Trophy for the 2007–08 Grand Prix season. They won the 2007 Skate Canada International and placed second at the 2007 NHK Trophy, qualifying them for the Grand Prix Final, where they came in fourth place.
Virtue and Moir won their first Canadian national title at the 2008 Canadian Championships and thus earned spots for the Four Continents and World Championships. They won the gold medal at the 2008 Four Continents Championships, marking their first international victory as seniors. They were the silver medallists at the 2008 World Championships in Sweden, winning the free dance segment with their program to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg soundtrack.
2008–09 season: Injury and World Bronze In the 2008–09 season, Virtue and Moir withdrew from both their Grand Prix events due to Virtue's medical condition; she had been diagnosed with chronic exertional compartment syndrome and underwent surgery in October 2008 to alleviate the condition. She returned to the ice at the start of December, which she later said was probably too early. At the 2009 Canadian Championships, their first competition of the season, they won their second back-to-back national title.
At the 2009 Four Continents Championships, Virtue and Moir finished second behind their friends and training partners, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White. At the 2009 World Championships, they won the bronze medal, after placing third in the compulsory dance, sixth in the original dance, and fourth in the free skate.
2009–10 season: Olympic and World titles Virtue/Moir started off the 2009–10 Olympic season at the 2009 Trophée Éric Bompard, finishing first by a margin of 16.07 points ahead of the silver medallists, Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat. They also won the 2009 Skate Canada International with a combined score of 204.38 points, 19.31 points ahead of Péchalat/Bourzat. At that competition, they received the first 10.0 for ice dance under the ISU Judging System. They were second at the Grand Prix Final behind Davis and White.
In January 2010, Virtue and Moir won their third national title at the 2010 Canadian Championships, placing first in all three segments of the competition and earning 221.95 points overall, which was 37.25 ahead of silver medallists Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier. They set Canadian records for free dance and for combined total.
Virtue and Moir competed in the ice dance competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics from February 19 through 22. They placed second in the compulsory dance, earning a new personal best score of 42.74 points, just 1.02 off the lead. They earned 68.41 points in the original dance, placing first in that segment of the competition. They scored 110.42 points in the free dance and won the gold medal overall with an insurmountable total score of 221.57, surpassing silver medallists Davis and White by 5.83 points. In the free dance, which they skated to Mahler's Symphony No. 5, they received four 10.00 marks from the judges in the program components, two for the performance execution and two for interpretation, a feat never before accomplished by a figure skater or team under the International Judging System. They became the first Canadian as well as the first North American ice dance team and the youngest dance team, at the ages of 20 (Virtue) and 22 (Moir), to win the Olympics, and the first ice dance team to win the Olympic gold on home ice. They were also the first ice dancers to win gold in their Olympic debut since the inaugural Olympic ice dance event in 1976.
Virtue/Moir competed at the 2010 World Championships and placed first in the compulsory dance with 44.13 points, improving their previous personal best. They also won the original dance with 70.27 points, a world record under the ISU Judging System. They placed second in the free dance with 110.03 points, 0.46 behind Davis and White. Overall they claimed their first World Championship title scoring 224.43 points, 1.40 ahead of the Americans. They received numerous 10.00 for program components marks in the original dance and in the free dance.
2010–11 season: Injury and World Silver
For the 2010–11 Grand Prix season, Virtue and Moir were assigned to the 2010 Skate Canada International and to the 2010 Trophée Éric Bompard. Virtue underwent surgery in October 2010 to reduce the lingering pain in her shins and calves that is a result of chronic exertional compartment syndrome, leading to their withdrawal from the Grand Prix circuit. They also withdrew from the 2011 Canadian Championships because they did not have enough time to train after the surgery.
Virtue/Moir made their season debut at the 2011 Four Continents. They were in the lead following the short dance but withdrew midway through the free dance after Virtue felt tightness in her left quad muscle. Virtue stated, "The issue with my quad was actually coming from my pelvis and my back. [I]t seemed to be stemming from a particular lift we were doing, which was a split lift. Upon returning home to Michigan we changed that lift immediately, so now we do an upside-down position instead of a split." At the 2011 World Championships, they placed second overall by 3.48 points behind the American team of Davis and White.
Following the World Championships, Virtue experienced pain in her shins and calves. She decided against a third surgery and chose other methods to overcome the problem.
2011–12 season: Second Four Continents and World titles