United States ice skating pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the gold medal after taking the free dance competition in Sochi, at the Iceberg Skating Palace Sunday.
The ice dancers were the best hope the Americans have to obtain a gold medal in these Winter Olympics and their hard work did not disappoint.
Davis and White — who have been together since they were very young — skated to the timeless music of My Fair Lady’s classics, “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “Take Me To The Church On Time”, on Sunday.
The choreography was created with help from Dancing with the Stars’ Derek Hough and Davis and White made it their own, skating with the passion and focus that they are known for.
Charlie White wore a tuxedo tails, while Meryl Davis was in a cotton-candy pinkand scored a season-best 78.89 points, 2.56 points ahead of Canadian rivals — defending Olympic champions — Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who earned 76.33 ahead of the free skate Monday.
The United States skaters — the 2010 Olympic silver medalists — also won the bronze medal in the newly debuted team competition earlier in the Winter Games.
The American and Canadian couples train under the same Russian coach at the same Michigan rink, have swapped world championships the past four years, with Americans winning the 2011 and 2013 titles, and the Canadians winning in 2010 and 2012.
Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White win Olympic gold in ice dance pic.twitter.com/VcSaNMghMG
— Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) February 17, 2014
What a performance(@_@)? Meryl Davis and Charlie White pic.twitter.com/NxNVegGezv
— ?? ? (@apurkeneg) February 17, 2014
Obsessed with them. #DavisandWhite pic.twitter.com/sOHhX7cWEh
— Traci Freitag (@tfrei22) February 17, 2014
Relief… and gold… for Meryl Davis and Charlie White via @USATsportsImage pic.twitter.com/RSAHkpLqVx
— Joe Fleming (@ByJoeFleming) February 17, 2014
Davis and White have been skating for the United States since 1997 and are currently the number one figure skating dance pair in the world.
The couple met more than 16-years ago in Michigan when he was eight-years-old and she was a year older. At the beginning White remembers being impatient and just a bit bossy with Davis, who had never danced on ice before, but with similar heights and skating styles they made a good match.
At some point the awkwardness of those younger years went away for the United States skaters and they have stayed strong for 27-years reaching the pinnacle of their sport.
On Monday, Davis and White won the gold medal for the first time ever for the United States with 195.52 points, following an energetic performance marked by a combination of their usual elegance and power. Canada with 190.99 took the silver, while the locals, Russia, took bronze with a total 183.48.
[Image via Gertan / Shutterstock.com ]