Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir set a new world record in the ice dancing short dance program on Monday, but they’ll still face a tough fight for the gold medals.
Virtue and Scott already held the record for the most points ever achieved in a short dance. They set the high mark of 82.68 points at Skate Canada International last October. But the Canadians outdid themselves in PyeongChang, scoring 83.67 points during an electrifying performance set to “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Hotel California,” and “Oye Como Va.”
The Canadian team says that their long history as partners on the ice has helped them get to the point where they know they can deliver world-class performances in big moments.
“We don’t have to fake the feeling of looking into each other’s eyes and feeling something. That’s a joy,” Moir said. “It’s been a joy our whole career.”
France Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction
The ice dancing competition was widely expected to be a battle between two teams: The Canadians and the French pair of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. The French team held up their end of the bargain, scoring an impressive 81.93 points to stay right in the middle of the gold medal hunt.
But while their performance was almost the equal of the Canadians, the biggest story from their routine was a wardrobe malfunction. Just seconds into the routine, Papadakis’ costume started to pull apart at the back of her neck, leaving her left breast exposed for portions of their routine.
Rather than take a deduction to fix the outfit, the French team skated on, scoring high marks to land in second place. But the incident was still on their minds afterwards.
“It was my worst nightmare happening at the Olympics,” Papadakis said after their performance.
Gold Medal Battle is Clash of Styles
The two favorites present different and interesting styles in their ice dancing routines, which means a lot could be left up to the tastes of the judges rather than the skating abilities of the two pairs. The French are the overall world record holders, however, and despite being in second place at the moment, some oddsmakers still see them as the favorite to win gold.
At Bovada, Papadakis and Cizeron are listed at -175, with Virtue and Moir a close second choice at +150. Only two other pairs are given a realistic shot at upsetting the expected head-to-head battle for ice dancinggold.
The American brother/sister pair of Maia and Alex Shibutani (+600) currently sit in fourth place with 77.73 points, just 0.02 behind fellow Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (+5000). Meanwhile, Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (+900) are still given a solid chance of finishing on the podium despite sitting in eighth place with 74.33 points.
Fans in the United States will have three teams they can root for with medal aspirations. Madison Chock and Evan Bates (+5000) are also still in the podium hunt after finishing the short dance in seventh place.
