Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to honor Canadian legend Gord Downie in gala skate
The most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history, Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, will honor former Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie when the pair take to the ice in Sunday's gala skate - an unjudged event for the fans at PyeongChang 2018.
Downie, one of Canada's most beloved musicians, died from cancer at the age of 53.
"When I think about Gord, and I think about the Hip and what they've been able to do, it's kind of the soundtrack to being Canadian almost," Moir told Ron Nurwisah of the Huffington Post. "It's special for us that we get to skate to the Hip, and it's our tribute to one of my heroes and a guy who was so wonderfully weird, and just how he embraced life."
Virtue said she and Moir settled on the song "Long Time Running" from the album Road Apples (1991). Of the selection, Virtue continued: "The lyrics of 'Long Time Running' also are easy for us to connect with for our career, but we're really looking forward to performing that on Olympic ice.''
The Canadian duo is coming off a record-setting performance from the free and short dance that saw them secure their third Olympic gold medal and fifth in total.