Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the Canadian gold medalists in ice dancing, fulfilled a promise during the figure skating gala on Sunday. The gala is a non-competitive performance where skaters can let loose and perform what they want without worrying about judges.
Virtue and Moir used their gala spot to perform to The Tragically Hip’s song Long Time Running. They had promised to skate a tribute to the band when the Canadian band’s singer Gord Downie died of brain cancer. Downie was so important to Canada that prime minister Justin Trudeau posted a remembrance about the singer at the time of his death in October of 2017.
The skate itself was smooth, elegant and intimate, hallmarks of Virtue and Moir’s skating. With Downie’s lyrics guiding their movements, they performed in a way that was uniquely Canadian.
They have not committed to retirement or continuing to compete, but they seem to be leaning towards moving on. There is something fitting about the way the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history left the ice, with two Canadian artists paying tribute to another Canadian artist, gone too soon.