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INSTANT KARMA
  Like Davis and White, Virtue and Moir began synchronizing their skating moves during their elementary-school years. Both natives of London, Ont. (Moir was raised in Ilderton, Ont.), the two became one on ice  when Moir was 9 and Virtue was 7.

  "When we were young, we took it one year at a time," said Virtue, reflecting back on the early years with Moir. "Our thinking was that as long as we were having fun and we enjoyed skating with each other, we'd keep going. That was almost 14 years ago.

  "When I was 13 and Scott was 15, we moved to Waterloo (Ont.) to train. That was a big step because it meant we were going to take it more seriously and we knew skating is what we wanted to do."

  The pair started training at the Arctic Edge six years ago.

  "We love it here," emphasized Virtue. "We're not far from where we grew up and we have world-class coaches. Igor and Marina have become such big parts of our lives."

  "Igor and Marina are the best coaches in the world as far as I'm concerned," Moir said. "And the Arctic Edge is a great place to train because it has everything we need right here. It's like our own little bubble.

  "I love going home, but it can get a little overwhelming because everybody wants to talk about the Olympics every second because Canada is the host country and they're excited for us."

   The duo seem to be peaking at the right time. In November, they won the gold medal at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

  An admitted "adrenaline junkie," Moir said he has to temper his competitive juices during tournaments.

  "I get really excited before we go to the rink (for competitions), but once I'm there, I find that I have to calm myself down," he said. "If I get too excited, I'll be more prone to make the one little mistake that could cost us. My adrenaline edge is always there; I've just learned how to manage it."

  "I'm a little more reserved off the ice than Scott is," Virtue said. "Once we step on the ice, I really feel the support of the crowd. And I like skating under pressure. The bigger the event, the better I skate."

  If everything works as planned, and Virtue and Moir are standing on the top level of the medal stand Feb. 22 with "Oh, Canada" piping through the Vancouver Olympic Centre's sound system, can they visualize the emotions they'll probably be feeling?

  "Oh, yeah," Moir said. "I got emotional watching the qualifying for Canada's curling team, so I can only imagine how emotional I'd get if we're fortunate to win a gold medal. But we have a long way to go and a lot of work still ahead of us."