or seven competitions a year. Tere was not one mis- take. Can you believe that? But that’s the way it was.”


A whole new world Winning Olympic gold in Sochi has brought


its own challenges. “We planned our whole lives out to that point


we stepped off of the podium,” Davis said. “Now, what do we do? Post-Olympics, post-”Dancing with the Stars,” we have just been given so many amazing opportunities. It’s sort of hard to know which ones to take.” For 17 years, competitions had dictated their


schedule. Tere was little room for discussion when the U.S. Figure Skating Championships or World Figure Skating Championships was on the horizon. Now it’s solely up to them to set new performance and business goals. “Of course there have been moments when,


especially creatively, we’ve seen things a little differ- ently,” Davis said. “But I think the structure of our lives and growing up together has really helped us figure out a wonderful, healthy approach to figur- ing out our differences.” “What makes it work is how well we know


each other,” White said. “We’re not going to be tak- en by surprise by what the other person is doing. We know — no matter what it is we want to do — the other person will support us. We both want to be able to explore and have fun and see what other things interest us.”


AOL Build Presents: Meryl Davis at AOL Studios last summer in New York City. AOL Build is a live interview series where fans sit inches away from some of the biggest names in entertainment, fashion, business and sports as they share their personal stories.


“And she has such a talent for seeing what a


program is going to do to a spectator. She has this vision you don’t always see right away, but once you do, you are like, ‘Tat’s brilliant.’” Training alongside 2010 Olympic champions


Virtue and Moir of Canada offered a daily kick in the pants.


“I don’t think we would have been as success-


ful without them,” White said. “Seeing their ability day in and day out, you didn’t need any extra mo- tivation. I think all of us used each other’s presence as a way to overcome feeling tired, to push through when it was difficult to deal with nerves, to have


what felt like competition every day.” Zoueva carefully plotted the skaters’ steps up the podium, giving them ever-more dramatic and powerful material, culminating with Scheherazade. “You have to work for different styles,” Zoue-


va said. “Tere was a lot of learning. By the Olym- pic year, I could see that they knew they could do anything. Tey would not worry about how they looked; they would just do it. It took many years to have this self-confidence. “It was a four-year plan of performance, each


competition. It didn’t matter if they won, or were second. Teir performances were always stable, six


Making marriage work, long distance


On April 25, 2015, White won something


more important than Olympic gold: Tanith Bel- bin’s hand in marriage. He began dating Belbin, a five-time U.S. ice dance champion and 2006 Olympic silver medalist with Ben Agosto, in 2009 when both teams trained in Canton. She now uses her married name, Tanith White. “Competing against Tanith and Ben was nev-


er a problem,” White said. “You’re not facing off against anyone personally. It’s not a footrace.” Te two teams occasionally perform in the


same ice shows, including Disson’s “Dancing on Ice” and the 2015 U.S. Stars on Ice tour. But


Left, Tanith Belbin and Charlie White celebrate their wedding in April 2015 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Right, Belbin White gives her Ice Desk team’s analyst and husband some help with his microphone at the 2015 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.


SKATING 25


JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING


CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES


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