SOCHI, Russia -- Michigan students Meryl Davis and Charlie White finished first in both ice dancing segments to help the United States claim the bronze medal in the Winter Olympics' inaugural team figure skating competition, which concluded Sunday at Iceberg Skating Palace.
Skating to Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Davis and White scored a record 114.34 in Sunday's free dance competition to earn 10 points for Team USA, which finished with 60 team points. The Russian Federation won the gold medal with 75 points, while Canada claimed silver (65 points) in the team competition that included two performances each from the men, ladies, pairs and ice dancing.
The American ice dancing duo was also the top performer in the short dance portion of the competition Saturday, scoring 75.98 for another 10 team points. Davis and White's biggest rivals, 2010 Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada, placed second in both the short dance (72.98) and free dance (107.56).Davis and White, who are six-time reigning U.S. champions, will go for another medal next week when the ice dancing individual competition is held Sunday and Monday. They were silver medalists at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Also competing for the U.S. ice dancing team will be Michigan graduate Evan Bates, a two-time Olympian who will skate with partner Madison Chock, as well as siblings Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, who are current U-M students.
