Canadian pair seal ice dance gold

Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir delighted the home crowd with a stunning free dance to claim ice dance gold at the Vancouver Games.

The duo earned 110.42 for a total of 221.57, ahead of US silver medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White (215.74)

Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (207.64) claimed the bronze.

British brother and sister combination Sinead and John Kerr finished eighth after scoring a seasonal best 92.23 for an overall total of 186.01.

Fellow Brits Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland also scored a seasonal best in the free dance with 71.60 in a total of 143.61 for 20th place.

Leading after the first two components of the competition, Virtue and Moir skated a flawless free dance to Mahler's Symphony No 5.

It was one of the highlights of my skating life to witness Former Olympic champion Robin Cousins

Former Olympic gold medallist Robin Cousins, commentating for BBC TV, said the winning Canadian duo's dance was 'absolute perfection' and drew comparisons with Torvill and Dean.

"Dare I say the Canadians have found their own Bolero," said Cousins in a reference to the Brits' famous winning dance at the 1984 Games in Sarajevo.

"It was just the perfect love story - there was not a hair out of place."

Cousins said the dancers had been together for 13 years after Moir's mother - his coach - spotted Virtue.

And the pair made a virtue of their experience with a spendidly stylish routine.

"It was one of the highlights of my skating life to witness," said Cousins, who won gold at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.

The Kerrs, competing in what is likely to be their final Olympics, admitted disappointment at failing to contend for a medal, although they impressed the crowd while dancing to Linkin Park's 'Krwing.

John Kerr said: "Obviously we always want to finish as high as we can and get in a medal position.

"It's disappointing because we wanted to be higher but so long as you give it your best you can't complain."

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