Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the 2010 Olympic gold medalists, announced Saturday that they will return to competition for the 2016-17 season and will train in Montreal with Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.
Virtue and Moir have taken two seasons off following the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, where they won the silver medal. The duo won Canada's first Olympic gold medal in ice dance four years earlier in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"In returning to competition, our motivation stems solely from our love for the sport and our desire to create art," Virtue and Moir said in a Skate Canada press release. "We are ready for the challenge and ready to embrace life as athletes again.
From 2003-14, Virtue and Moir were coached by Marina Zoueva (and her former coaching partner Igor Shpilband, up until the two split in 2012) in Canton, Michigan.
In returning to competition, Virtue and Moir will move to Montreal and train under a team headed by Dubreuil and Lauzon, who also coach reigning world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, and U.S. bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.
"With Marie-France and Patrice, we have found a renewed passion for skating that feels both invigorating and inspiring," Virtue and Moir said. "We have been working tirelessly on new techniques and a different approach to ice dance – both mechanically and philosophically."
In addition to winning two Olympic medals, Virtue and Moir are two-time world champions (2010, '12) and six-time Canadian champions.
Нейтан всех порвёт. / Nathan Chen will tear up everyone. / No pasarán! Победа за нами!
Алёна Косторная - Душа льда. / Alena Kostornaya - Soul of ice.
Лучшая "Джульетта" - Настя Губанова, лучшая "Лебедь" - Алиса Лозко.