Meryl Davis and Charlie White made history on Monday after capturing the first ever ice dancing gold medal for Team USA.
The five-time national champions skated almost flawlessly and scored the highest mark ever recorded in the sport at a Winter Olympics.
Charlie White and Meryl Davis met at the Detroit Skating Club in 1998 when they were nine and eight-years-old respectively and the rest is history.
Even though, at first Meryl was not too sure about dancing with a boy, she soon realized that having a partner to skate with was much better than going it alone and except for a time at the beginning of their partnership, Charlie used to be impatient at her lack of skills, he also realized that they were very compatible indeed.
It took them 17-years to win a gold medal at the Olympics, but with the help of their moms — who have not missed one of their competitions — they persevered and are now at the top of the ice dancing world.
“We’ve grown up together in every sense of the word,” Davis said, “and I’m just so grateful that we were able to do it together.”
Olympic Gold Medalists Meryl Davis & Charlie White; humility and hard work. http://t.co/O6vgPMoNPm pic.twitter.com/W3JUnbfdd2
— Robin Bond Media (@RobinBondMedia) February 18, 2014
Ice skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the first Americans to win ice dance gold http://t.co/rskzHke8ZA pic.twitter.com/e1POuiDe2H
— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) February 17, 2014
See some great shots of US #IceDancing team Meryl Davis and Charlie White #Sochi2014 here: http://t.co/7JUEivZCpT pic.twitter.com/b6miAbtcgi
— AJC Lifestyles (@AJCLifestyles) February 17, 2014
Meryl Davis and Charlie White were not aiming for the Olympic gold medal when they started in this endeavor, but their hard work and talent inevitably took them there and in the last few years they have reached the pinnacle of ice dancing.
Not only that, they are well liked and respected by their peers for their modest, down to earth personalities.
Their style is a mix of grace and power. Meryl Davis makes it look so easy and graceful, while Charlie White is strong and precise in his movements. Both are very athletic and a great match.
For the past few years they have had to battle their fellow Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir — the Vancouver gold medalists –, who share the same coach and train at the same facility.
But Meryl Davis and Charlie White scored a World Record 195.52 (78.89 in she short dance and 1163.63 in the free dance) at the Sochi Winter Olympics and topped the Vancouver gold medalists.
It seems as it has been like that with the US and Canada in ice dancing, a back-and-forth of sorts, taking and losing titles.
At Sochi, it was Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s turn to shine and take it all in a record breaking, pretty close to perfect skate that will go down in history as one of the best ones ever.
[Image via The Oakland Press/Twitter]