Olympic legend Scott Moir coaching both Canada and USA in same event
For many Canadians, there’s not much debate about who the most legendary Olympic duo of their lifetime is.
Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won five medals (including two golds) across three Olympic Games from 2010 to 2018, serve as an unparalleled partnership in the country’s sporting lore, and one that transcended the world of figure skating.
But after their retirement in 2019, many came to wonder if we’d ever see anything like them again.
Now, half of the iconic duo is trying to find that answer out directly.
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Why is Scott Moir back at the Olympics?
Now a skating coach, Moir is back at the Winter Olympics this year, although he isn’t exactly just pledging allegiance to Canada.
Moir, who is the managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal campus in Southwestern Ontario, works with a whole host of skaters looking to realize their Olympic dreams.
And at Monday’s ice dance event in Milan, he was spotted wearing both the Canadian and American team outfits while supporting his teams. For the Americans, he’s teamed up with Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, while he’s working with Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac in his home country.
Scott Moir is at his first Olympics as a coach, and as expected, he's wearing the colours of each country in kiss and cry.
Canadian fits for Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac.
And the Stars and Stripes for Americans, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. pic.twitter.com/pJX5FhePd1
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) February 9, 2026
In any other sporting competition, it wouldn’t look weird for a coach born in a different country to work with athletes of a different nationality.
For example, every Stanley Cup-winning coach since 2018 (and many more before that) has been a Canadian coach on an American team, and nobody thinks twice about that discrepancy. We will admit, though, that coaching two countries during the same event is a little bit confusing.
“I’m just honoured to be part of it as a coach, just to be there to support my athletes is going to be huge honour for me,” Moir said in a recent interview with CP24 alongside Virtue.
Moir’s vast experience in the skating world should be a big asset to his athletes, especially when explaining how to deal with the pressure of a massive Olympic spotlight.
“They have worked tirelessly for years, sometimes decades, to get to this one moment and skating. It’s just mere minutes on the ice when everything is on the line,” Virtue added.
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What is Tessa Virtue up to?
Virtue is long retired from the skating world and has transitioned into a new career with Deloitte as an executive advisor.
But while she’s still rooting for Canadian athletes from afar, she also has a bit of a soft spot for her skating partner of more than two decades.
“I’m cheering for the coach now,” Virtue told CP24. “I’m cheering for the guy at the boards putting out the teams to skate. I’m so proud of Scott.”
The duo haven’t skated together formally since their retirement, despite many pushes for them to get back out on the ice.