#paralympics so cool paralympics forever

[virtchandmoir]

Tessa Virtue steps off the ice and into kinky boots, among other worthwhile endeavours

November 16, 2019

There’s Tessa Virtue. And whoa, gobsmacking, there’s Vicky Vice.

The alter ego will come as a shock to many who have watched Canada’s ice dancing sweetheart transform over the years. From the demure Tessa of Gibson Girl days — her debut silver medal at the 2008 worlds in Gothenburg with Scott Moir, a feathery rendition of “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” that knocked judges for a loop — to the dynamically athletic Tessa of Vancouver Olympics gold (The Goose lift), to the mature and sensuous Tessa of “Roxanne” and “Carmen” and finally “Moulin Rouge’’ — Games gold times two in Pyeongchang.

But wet-look black latex pencil skirt, cleavage-squeezing bustier, leather gloves and ankle boots, with drag queen makeup, pulling on a rope, suggestive of a dominatrix — that’s breaking kinky new ground.

With a simple “Hold on tight’’ caption, the spread sprang from the imagination of Toronto-based photographer Nikki Ormerod.

The new and emboldened Tessa‚ unshackled as her skating career winds to a close on Rock the Rink, a 27-city cross-Canadian tour with Moir — was game.

“I was thinking about the opposite of virtue,” Virtue explains down the phone line. “Sometimes when we were performing, I’d channel her. You know, how Beyoncé has Sasha Fierce?”

While there is poignancy to this stage in Virtue’s career — she and Moir have announced that’s it, not even any more shows after the tour concludes in St. John’s on Nov. 23 (“though never say never”) — she’s also excited about whatever comes next. The possibilities are endless.

Since the couple retired from competition, Virtue has been everywhere: magazine covers, talk shows, TV commercials promoting this product and that. Which is as it should be, translating on-ice success — three Olympic medals, four world championship golds (one junior), eight senior Canadian titles, 55 international medals — to off-ice fortune.

At 30 years old, she’s earned it. Although, it’s unsettling that Virtue will now be forever partitioned from Moir. Twenty-two years together, most decorated Olympics figure skaters in history.

We all pined for the romance they invoked on the ice to be real. Lord knows they faked it good, that deep, intimate connection, if always making it clear that no, they weren’t a couple away from the rink. Moir, in fact, is engaged to marry next summer. But what will they be to each other now and in the future unfolding?

“The more important factor that will shift for us is just the fact that we won’t be skating together,” Virtue explains. “We’ve been through everything together, partners included. But it’s a really neat time for us. After this long, sharing such a singular focus and common goal, it’s fun to support one another as we launch ourselves forward and into other projects that are closely aligned with our values and close to our hearts, respectively.

“I can’t wait to watch him flourish in whatever he takes on next. We’ll always be there for each other. We’ll always be a part of each other’s lives. I think it will just be a natural evolution of a beautiful friendship. Taking the skating element out of it will allow some freedom for us to relish the beautiful friendship we’ve created. Now we get to reap those benefits of really just being in one another’s corner, supporting each other from the sidelines every step of the way.’’

Virtue is picking her projects carefully. This past week, it was announced that she and Benoit Huot have signed on to a joint partnership between the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic and Classroom Champions. Teach Canada Champion Chats, in the 2019-20 school year, is a nationwide program designed to empower students, with a focus on mentoring, achieving goals, embracing challenges — in or out of sports — mental wellness, diversity and inclusion, via virtual live chats.

“What’s so beautiful about this is, it’s taking the lessons we’ve learned in sport as athletes and really creating a personal connection with students who wouldn’t otherwise get to learn about those experiences, and help them apply it to their lives,’’ says Virtue. “It’s so cool … We’ve been able to learn so many unique things that are so applicable to every facet of life, especially when it comes to kids who just don’t have access to those kinds of resources, physical activity and sport.”

So many hours to fill that used to be spent at the rink, training daily or rehabbing from injury, which has been a theme for Virtue more than Moir, including surgery to her shins and calves.

And she’s still coming to terms with the absence of competition, the thrill and stress of performing for judges.

“We’re competitors by nature,’’ says Virtue, of herself and Moir. “We inherently miss that fire that comes with striving to be the best. The biggest challenge has been taking off that perfectionist hat and putting on an entertainer hat. Realizing that entertainment, in a broad view, is so different than what we’d been striving for, for 22 years, which was perfection in four minutes. Which doesn’t exist anyway.’’

The tour has been a farewell and a mutual thank you for all the skates, all the medals, all the adoring audiences. “Letting that percolate, digesting it, that this is the end of something really beautiful and we’re able to savour it every single night. I just feel so fortunate. Every night, I’m very cognizant of the fact that we’re able to walk away exactly on our own terms. The programs that we want to do in the way that we’ve dreamed of doing, and in a way that really feels like it does justice to the career and the partnership that we’ve had.”

Without the fussy rules that have historically stifled ice dancing. Though Moir and Virtue, with their signature athleticism and artistry, always found a way to punch through boundaries.

Without Moir and Virtue, without Patrick Chan, without Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, without Kaetlyn Osmond — all formally retired from the sport since Pyeongchang — the figure skating landscape looks rather bleak in Canada. They dominated for so long.

“It will be tough to follow this generation,” Virtue reluctantly admits. “But if we’ve done our jobs, then it won’t be too long until there are some shining superstars in Canada. But yeah, it’s a tough changing of the guard.”

Unlike Moir, Virtue has no interest in coaching, at least not yet. With a psychology degree under his belt, she plans to pursue an MBA at Queen’s University starting next fall. She’s also keenly drawn to an entrepreneurial career. Virtue is already quite the businesswoman, working with sponsors since the Vancouver Games. “I’ve always had a passion for business. I’ve been fortunate to have been exposed to so many facets of the business world. And I’m used to being my own boss as an athlete.

“We were sort of CEOs of our career.”

—The Star