SOCHI, Russia -- Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice
dance gold medal Monday, the first Olympic title in the event for the United
States.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada,
the 2010 champions, took silver. Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov
captured bronze.
Davis and White won silver in
Vancouver, but in the four years since they have overtaken the Canadians, their
training partners in Detroit.
The Americans, the reigning world
champs, scored 116.63 points in the free dance to finish with 195.52, 4.53
ahead of Virtue and Moir.
When the music from
"Sheherazade" ended with White on a knee, Davis rested her head on
his back in exhausted elation. The two started skating together in 1997 in
Michigan, and on the biggest day of their career, they were nearly flawless.
"That in itself justified 17
years of hard work," White, 26, said.
As the music swelled over the final
minute of the program, their feet were in nonstop motion yet every movement was
intricately choreographed. Their lifts were a blur as White spun across the ice
with Davis held aloft, their movements and expressions still fierce despite the
draining demands of the performance.
As they told the story of the Persian
king and the woman who enchants him, White was regal in purple velvet, Davis
beguiling in a lavender dress with jewels shimmering on her midriff.
They now have one medal of each color
after winning bronze in the new team event in Sochi.
Meryl
Davis and Charlie White of the United States react in the results area
after competing in the ice dance free dance figure skating finals at the
Iceberg Skating Palace during the 2014 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb.
17, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Vadim Ghirda, AP
"We have grown up in every sense
of the word," Davis, 27, said of the partnership that took them to Olympic
gold.
Fellow American skater Adam Rippon tweeted his congratulations after the
performance:
I was
tearing up in the middle of Meryl and Charlie's free dance. So proud and
happy for my friends. No one deserves it more. :)!!!!!!
— Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) February 17, 2014
Virtue and Moir became the first North
American ice dance gold medalists at their home Olympics in Vancouver. Their
free dance to Russian classical music told the story of their own partnership,
which also stretches back to 1997.
In a performance at times tender and
others triumphant, Moir kissed her hand at the start and again throughout the
program.
"Don't think anyone will love us
less for bringing home a silver medal to Canada," Virtue said.
Ilinykh and Katsalapov were just ninth
at last year's world championships but are now the latest Olympic ice dance
medalists from Russia, finishing 7.51 points behind the Canadians. She's only
19; he's 22. The home fans started cheering when the first few notes of
"Swan Lake" played for their free dance, and they were roaring when
it ended with Katsalapov collapsed on his knees and Ilinykh weeping.
France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian
Bourzat were fourth, 6.26 points out of bronze. The other U.S. teams, Madison
Chock and Evan Bates and siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, were eighth and
ninth.
Russia has won 18 of 33 medals in ice
dance's Olympic history, but now North Americans own two straight golds.
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