They’ve already won Olympic gold — for the third time. But ice dancers Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue of Canada are still the subject of much scrutiny. The question: are they, or are they not, dating?
During a press conference in PyeongChang this week, Moir directly addressed the question at long last, explaining what’s up with him and Virtue as far as their two-decades-long athletic partnership is concerned.
“Relationship status is none of your business,” he said, somewhat jokingly, to press. “But I can say that the last two years we’ve been in a very committed relationship with our sport. And we’re the type of athletes that dive head first into the whole process, and I just honestly don’t know where you would find time for that.” (“That,” presumably, means an outside relationship or dating.) He continued: “Part of the reason maybe why we wouldn’t continue was to open up that side of our life maybe and see where that goes. And that’s as personal as I’ll get, but let’s see what happens.” Moir and Virtue have left a future in ice dancing open, but have also hinted that retirement may be in their cards.
For fans of the duo — who appear to be passionately in love whenever they perform their routines on ice — this vague answer could point to the potential that Moir and Virtue are, or might be in the future, more than just professional partners. Then again, this also serves as proof that the pair have mastered more than ice dancing: his response could win a gold medal in evasion.
“We love working together,” Moir also said. “We’ll have to find just in which way we want to do that.”
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com