Olympic champion Scott Moir back on the ice with new coaching gig
The Olympic athlete has been named head coach of the Ice Academy of Montreal's second campus in Ontario
After a 22-year career in ice dancing and winning five Olympic medals, Scott Moir says he's ready to try new things.
Three years removed from capturing the gold in Pyeongchang alongside longtime skating partner Tessa Virtue, the 33-year-old from Ilderton, Ont., is set on coaching the next generation of elite ice dancers.
Earlier this month, Moir was named head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal's (I.AM) second campus located in southwestern Ontario.
"It's a huge honour," Moir told CBC News. "My goal is to make these athletes better and for them to thrive as humans and as athletes."
Moir is no stranger to I.AM. He and Virtue trained at the academy for the last two years of their careers under head coaches and founders of the Montreal campus, Patrice Lauzon, Marie-France Dubreuil and Romain Haguenauer, who led them to capturing their second Olympic gold medals in 2018.
The transition into the new role seems like a natural fit. Since stepping away from the sport alongside Virtue in 2019, Moir said he still found himself dropping by at the local ice rink to help coach young athletes.
Moir said the partnership with I.AM came from a desire to give back to the local community and being able to offer them an elite service without having to leave Canada.
"I want to get back in the arena with these athletes and discover new ways to be extremely excellent. And I think that's what this journey is all about. The plan is to teach, but also to learn."
"I want to get back on the international stage. I want to bring in Olympic champions to southwestern Ontario and I want it to be done the right way," Moir said, adding that he wants to ensure his athletes accomplish fulfilment both on and off the ice.
"The way that Patrice, Marie-France and Romain saw [Tessa and I] as human beings, they respected that and pushed us to be our best not only on the ice, but off the ice. It had a long lasting effect on my life, so I want to be able to do that."
Moir's new position has already caught the attention of high-profile athletes. On Monday, it was confirmed that U.S. ice dancers and two-time World Junior medallists Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko will be training under Moir's supervision at I. AM.
This new chapter in Moir's career comes after spending 22 years with a professional partner. Moir and Virtue were paired up in 1997 at ages nine and seven, respectively. Moir said he won't be taking on this task alone, adding that he'll be working alongside a team of other coaches, including his mother Alma and his aunt Carol.
As for a future collaboration with Virtue, Moir said the possibility is always on the table.
"I don't want to get people too excited, but she had talked about what it would be like to come back inside the rink and I want to make sure that that's always available to Tessa Virtue."
"Watching Tessa and Marie-France create our last couple of programs together with Sam Chouinard, I was really in the front row of genius happening. So anytime that I can get her back in the arena, I'm going to do that."
Virtue is in the midst of obtaining an Executive MBA at Queens University. The 31-year-old from London, Ont., has also partnered up with brands, including Nivea, Adidas, The Brick and Kashi all while continuing to empower young women.
"We look back at these crazy, young kids, but we always were on the same page and I think now our relationship is at a really beautiful point where we're starting to figure out where each other wants to go and we're really just cheering each other on," Moir said.