Virtue & Moir announce retirement

[Elizabeth]

The upcoming "Rock the Rink" tour will apparently be a last hurrah for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir who have announced their plans to step away from the sport.

Read more here: https://www.iheartradio.ca/580-cfra/new ... -1.9975233

The video they posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/status/1174162364414885888

They will be guest judges on the Battle of the Blades tomorrow evening on CBC - it will be watchable worldwide the following day via CBC streaming.

On October 23rd Tessa & Scott will be among those receiving honourary doctorates from Western University: https://mediarelations.uwo.ca/2019/09/1 ... nvocation/

[happyheini]

The end to era, I can't wait for announcements of their future endeavours. I am sure it will still involve skating in some form. Thank you, Tessa and Scott.

[Elizabeth]

An article for CBC Sports by PJ Kwong: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/figu ... -1.5288536

[fred]

It seems like yesterday I was watching them as Juniors, and thinking that they will be a significant dance team. I knew they would win medals, but it was hard to imagine that they would reach the heights of athleticism and grace that they have done.
Of course I remember the 2010 Olympics and that first few step they took in their final performance. After 5 seconds from the start, I knew they had the Gold, and of course, as we know now, they did.

What struck me was their unison both in line and timing. I thought I'd never seen anything like it before, and then one day I was looking back at an old Barb & Paul skate, and I saw the same sort of precision and connection in their skating too. Now of course all dance teams are emulating that synchronicity . I think Tessa & Scott really did change the Ice Dance in that way. It's a living legacy to their credit.

Great stuff, indeed.

[happyheini]

I fully agree, Fred. Especially your comments about Barb and Paul I remember Paul said in an interview once that he had to learn to go down into his knees to achieve the look of synchronisation. These two pairs still embody the best of figure skating for me. Nice to see Paul being busy with the Battle of the Blades.We are so fortunate tho have had such a great number of amazing skaters over the years and the future looks very bright as well.

[Elizabeth]

A view from south of the border - Phil Hersh for NBC Sports: https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/09/ ... etirement/

[Judy]

Wouldn’t a TV special of their career that included all their programmes be a pleasure?
Now I’m intrigued about what their participation at Worlds will be. Sure hope it includes them skating!

[fred]

That would be nice. It's such a joy watching them skate.