Virtue and Moir's rural springboard is ready for their golden homecoming
Canadian Olympic champs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are bringing home the gold.
Cheers for the London-Ilderton dynamic duo roared through southwestern Ontario as family, friends and super fans watched them capture the highly anticipated ice dance title on Monday at the local community centre.
The champs won gold after an overall record-breaking performance with a score of 206.07 points.
Behind their victory — an army of boundless supporters in rural Ilderton, where Virture and Moir were first paired up to skate two decades ago.
"Life in rural Ontario is precious … attitude here and involvement here is so different and [growing up] here made them very, very normal — such wonderful people," said Bob Harvey, pegged as the town's historian for having lived there for six decades. He's kept a watchful eye on the winners.
"All the fame and fortunate that they've come into have not affected them … that is the kind of thing that living in rural Ontario teaches young people."
More than 250 people showed up to watch the pair skate on the big screen. Residents haven't been shy with their support — erecting five Olympic rings across the town in honour of the duo.
Even the local Tim's offered doughnuts covered with white icing and red sprinkles to celebrate.
Inspiring the young
Since the pair's rise, the local Ilderton Skating Club has seen an extensive amount of growth, drawing avid-skaters from across the country, such as 17-year-old Matthew Buck.
The Saskatoon native moved to Ilderton to pursue a career in ice dancing, inspired by "the greatest."
"I work as hard as possible every day to be like them," he said, admitting "there will be nobody like them. They are one of a kind, arguably the greatest to ever ice dance in the history of the world. Obviously, it's a dream of all ice dancers. It's just amazing to be able to skate."
For his ice dance partner Camille Dethomasis, 15, Monday's win only pushes her Olympic ambitions further.
"They really inspire us to do our best and work as hard as they can to someday be as good as they are," she said.
First comes gold, then comes …
Apparently a romantic future for Virtue and Moir is a speculation that "runs rampant" across the town, Harvey said.
"Everyone is watching because there's a great percentage of the population of Canada and Ontario that believe they will end up romantically tied," he said, citing that Viture and Moir are set to retire from competitive skating after these Olympics.
But uncle Dace Moir, who was also at Monday's viewing party, said the duo's future is up in the air and that people have to "wait and see."
Regardless of their decision, Mayor of Middlesex Centre Al Edmondson is welcoming the them — pegged the King and Queen of ice dance — back into the community with open arms.
"They're the best ambassadors Canada can have."
