Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White set a new world record score in the short dance to move closer to giving the United States its first Olympic gold in ice dancing.
As quoted from Sochi.Ru2014, Davis, 27, and White, 26, skated a foxtrot and quickstep to "My Fair Lady" to lead reigning Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada by 2.56 points at the Iceberg Skating Palace. The Americans, the Olympic silver medallists, scored 78.89 points with the Canadians achieving 76.33 for their skate. Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov scored a personal best 73.04 for their skate to "Bei mir bist du schoen" and "Sixteen Tons", to put them third ahead of France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, 72.75.
In their Official Website, White andDavis is said to be skating together since 1997. Among their honoured accomplishments they are the 2014 Olympic Gold Medalists, 2010 Olympic Silver Medalists and 2011 and 2013 World Champions. They are also six-time (2009-2014) U.S. Champions and five-time (2009-2013) Grand Prix Final Champions.
According to Bleacher Reporter, their dominance over the past two years, where they've established an edge over Moir and Virtue, the 2010 Olympic champions, made it easy to forget this is the first Olympic ice dance gold in U.S. history. "We wanted to fight for the best performance we could give and we did that. You dream of this for so long, work so hard, and they worked hard, too," White told reporters talking of Virtue and Moir. "They always have been with us, pushing us, and we couldn't have done it without them."
"The Americans scored 116.63 points in the free dance to finish with 195.52, 4.53 ahead of Virtue and Moir. After a near-flawless performance to Shéhérazade, Davis rested her head on White's back in exhausted elation" reports from The Guardian said.
The pair has a very good foundation. According to the Bleacher Reporter, they have skated together for 18 years, taking their first strides on ice together while still in elementary school, they grew up 10 minutes apart in Royal Oak, Mich. Their families are friends.
