On the final free skate of the night, Meryl Davis and Charlie White earned the one thing they’d worked for four years to attain: The first Olympic ice dancing gold in U.S. history.
Davis and White had another world-record skate, earning a 116.63 in their free portion for a total score of 195.52 that lifted them over 2010 Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada to the historic victory.
It also marked one of the biggest moments so far for Team USA as a whole in these Sochi Olympics, going alongside their slopestyle (ski/snowboard) golds and the thrilling men’s hockey triumph over Russia this past weekend.
As you’d expect, Virtue and Moir didn’t give up their Olympic title without a fight.
VIDEO: Watch their gold-medal routine
Their “Petit Adagio” free skate was a beautiful one, and the judges thought so as well - giving them a 114.66 for a total score of 190.99 that put them in the lead with three pairs to go.
The two top Russian duos then followed, with the Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov pairing cementing the bronze medal after a free score of 110.44 put them with a total of 183.48.
Then, to close out the evening, Davis and White took to the ice with the whole world watching.
With the pressure on, they performed brilliantly to “Scheherazade” and made sure that they lived up to the expectations set for them after they won silver behind Virtue and Moir four years ago in Vancouver.
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FIGURE SKATING - ICE DANCING
1. Davis/White (USA), 195.52
2. Virtue/Moir (CAN), 190.99
3. Ilinykh/Katsalapov, 183.48
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8. Chock/Bates (USA), 164.64
9. Shibutani/Shibutani (USA), 155.17