American ice dancing pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White made their nation proud by winning the gold in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It is the first gold for Team USA in ice dancing; they had previously won silver four years ago in Vancouver. They also won bronze in this year’s new team event.

The duo, who both hail from Michigan, scored in the free dance portion with 116.63 points and finished with 195.52, enough to beat Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won the event in 2010. The Canadian pair, who also happened to be the American team’s training partners in Detroit, scored 190.99 points. Winning bronze are Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov from Russia, and at fourth place are Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat from France.

The pair’s intricate choreography and superb technical skills were brilliantly showcased. They glided and spun across the ice to the music from “Scheherazade,” ending their dance with White on one knee, and Davis resting her head on his back.

They have been asked about their chemistry, and whether it extends off the ice. In a 2012 interview, White said that they get asked about it a lot, and while awkward, they have become used to it. For them, it is central to their sport to show they are in love on the ice, which makes it easy for the audience to think they are a couple even after they’ve taken off their skates.

Dancing together for more than half of their lives is also a big factor in making them feel comfortable with each other, which is obvious in their intimacy on the ice, and the spirit with which they danced. The 27-year-old Davis and 26-year-old White were first paired together as kids—when Davis was 10 and White, 9. They had been skating together ever since, and it definitely showed in their performance on Monday during the ice dancing finals.

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