US Men's Olympic Figure Skating 2018: Monday's Top Ice Dance Performers

The big question going into the ice dance final was whether the Canadian team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir could hold on to their lead and win the gold medal.

While they were pushed hard in the final group of skaters, the Canadian virtuosos put on a memorable show and captured their second Olympic gold medal. They had previously triumphed in 2010 in Vancouver and earned silver in 2014 in Sochi.

Those two put on a brilliant performance, as they knew they would have to come through with something memorable because the French team of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron had been scintillating.

However, even though Papadakis and Cizeron seemed flawless and received an eye-opening score of 205.28, Virtue and Moir were even better. Seemingly skating as a single unit, the husband-and-wife team drew a standing ovation from the crowd and throaty roars at its conclusion.

The tension grew as they waited for the scores, and they came through with a figure of 206.07 which gave them the Olympic title. 

Free Dance Final Rankings (Courtesy of Rocker Skating)
1. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir CAN: 206.07 (63.35, 59.05, 122.40)
2. Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron FRA: 205.28 (63.98, 59.37, 123.35)
3. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani USA: 192.59 (59.37, 55.49, 114.86)
4. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue USA: 187.69 (54.94, 56.00, -1.00, 109.94)
5. Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev OAR: 186.92 (56.25, 55.20, 111.45)
6. Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte ITA: 184.91 (55.27, 54.07, -1.00, 108.34)
7. Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje CAN: 181.98 (53.48, 54.17, 107.65)
8. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier CAN: 176.91 (55.14, 52.17, 107.31)
9. Madison Chock/Evan Bates USA: 175.58 (49.04, 53.09, 100.13)
10. Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA: 173.47 (53.82, 51.49, 105.31)
11. Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland GBR: 170.32 (51.66, 50.30, 101.96)
12. Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin ESP: 168.33 (51.68, 49.72)
13. Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro OAR: 162.24 (46.73, 49.04, 96.77)
14. Natalia Kaliszek/Maksym Spodyriev POL: 161.35 (48.45, 46.84, 95.29)
15. Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed JPN: 160.63 (50.75, 46.47, 97.22)
16. Kavita Lorenz/Joti Polizoakis GER: 150.49 (46.78, 43.72, 90.50)
17. Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain Le Gac FRA: 149.59 (47.04, 42.58, 89.62)
18. Yura Min/Alexander Gamelin KOR: 147.74 (44.61, 41.91, 86.52)
19. Alisa Agafonova/Alper Ucar TUR: 147.18 (44.01, 43.75, 87.76)
20. Lucie Mysliveckova/Lukas Csolley SVK: 142.57 (41.65, 41.17, 82.82)

There is a big difference between pairs figure skating and ice dancing. Pairs skating includes multiple throws and jumps, and there's always a chance the participants will fail and a maneuver can turn into a fall or a crash.

Ice dancers are far less likely to suffer a fall. However, the judges rate performances on emotion, timing, rhythm, footwork and the teamwork of the pairing.

Those factors all helped Virtue and Moir earn the top spot in the standings.

The American team of Maia and Alex Shibutani put together a sensational performance as they danced to Coldplay in the night's final grouping. The brother-and-sister team earned a score of 192.59.

That performance saw them claim the bronze medal and represented a huge improvement on their display in Sochi.

The Shibutanis had to wait through the performances of the final three pairs. While there was little chance of topping Virtue and Moir or Papadakis and Cizeron, they were virtually even with the American team of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue after the first night of competition.

However, despite their artistry and rhythm, they still had to watch Papadakis and Cizeron, Hubbell and Donohue along with Virtue and Moir before they could claim a medal.

Papadakis and Cizeron put on a memorable show and eclipsed the Shibutanis in the view of the judges. Hubbell and Donohue followed, and they did not come through with their best performance.

Those two struggled to match what they had done Sunday night, and Donohue made a couple of mistakes that kept them from making the podium with their score of 187.69.