No longer illuminated by strings of perfect sixes, ice dance nevertheless embraced another perfect finale on Tuesday as Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir re-claimed Olympic gold in their final competitive skate.

Not since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean Bolero’d their way to glory in Sarajevo in 1984, has a couple transcended the sport quite like the Canadian pair, who have been on-ice partners since they began skating together as young children in Ontario.

Gold medallists in their home Games in Vancouver in 2010, Virtue and Moir fell just short in Sochi, but a shimmering and dazzlingly choreographhed routine to music from ‘Moulin Rouge’ saw them eclipse the French pair of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron by less than a single point.

Victory, with a record combined score of 206.07 from their free and short programs, made Virtue and Moir the most decorated Olympic figure skaters in history. American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani took bronze, with British pair Nick Buckland and Penny Coomes in 11th.

Virtue and Moir, who had already won gold in the team event at the start of the Games, fell short of making an official retirement announcement on Tuesday, but they confirmed they will miss next month’s World Championships in Milan, and indicated their departure from competition is a formality.

“We are going to wait until the dust settles, but for us it was about coming back for the Olympic Games,” said Moir. “It’s time for us to move on. We have some great ice dancers in who can come up and take our spot. But we’ll wait to say it officially, until we know for sure.”

While comparisons with Torvill and Dean are as inevitable as they are deserved, this was no ‘Bolero’ moment – Papadakis and Cizeron, with whom the gold medallists share a coach, actually scored higher on their free skate routine, fighting back from the wardrobe malfunction which had threatened to blight Monday’s short program.

But there was no disputing that Moir and Virtue were the crowd favourites, and their second and final pairs gold may be seen as much for the way in which they have led the sport into a new age, as for their performances in Pyeongchang alone.

Moir, however, shrugged off questions concerning legacy, insisting he had returned to the sport after a brief break in 2016 not to target new records, but simply to get the chance to continue skating with the partner with whom he has shared almost an entire life.

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir
Virtue and Moir became the most decorated Olympic figure skaters (Julie Jacobson/AP)

“I don’t know what we’ve given to ice dance,” added Moir. “We haven’t even watched a tape of ourselves from 2010. Maybe [we’ll think about it] when we’re sitting in our rocking chairs in our old age.

“When I watch the single skaters go out there, it’s just terrifying. We rely on each other so much in our lives. We moved away together at such a young age to chase what should have been a crazy dream.

“The only reason I wanted to come back to skating was to come back with Tessa and share those moments.

Penny Comes Nick Buckland
Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland has to settle for 11th place (David J. Phillip/AP)

“I shake my head sometimes driving to the rink because I’m still excited to see Tessa at the rink for the warm-up. Who enjoys going in to train every day for 20 years?”

Virtue, however, did reveal that one of the strongest and most forensically-examined relationships in sport could have played out rather differently.

“In grade one, I did write in my journal that I wanted to be at the Olympics with Danny Moir, Scott’s brother,” she said.

For Coomes and Buckland, it was a disappointing end to a remarkable journey which began when Coomes was injured in a freak fall in training in 2016, shattering her kneecap in eight places and being told she may never skate again.

The British pair, who have every intention of going to Milan next month and continuing to pursue their medal dream into a fourth Olympics, paid tribute to the winners.

“They’ve been an inspiration and they’ve moved the sport on,” said Buckland. “Torvill and Dean were absolute icons but Tessa and Scott are icons in their own way too.”