Ice Dancers Davis, White Won't Defend Olympic Title In PyeonChang Games

METRO DETROIT, MI — A year from now, the world’s greatest athletes will assemble in PyeongChang, South Korea for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, but Michigan’s own defending gold medal ice dancing champions won’t be among them.

West Bloomfield-native Meryl Davis and partner Charlie White recently decided to skip the Games to focus on other areas of their lives. The duo, who made the announcement live on NBC’s Today Show, are not retiring from the sport, however, and haven’t ruled out a comeback for 2022.

Davis and White have trained at Canton’s Arctic Edge for a number of years.

“It was very hard,” Davis recently told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s a decision that we’ve been thinking on and sitting on for three years, really.”

Davis and White won gold in Sochi, Russia, Olympic Games in 2014.

White, from Bloomfield Hills, said that despite duo’s success in ice dancing, the road wasn’t always easy. Overcoming those obstacles while maintaining their integrity and passion for the sport is something he’s proud of.

“I think I’m most proud of the way we handled all of the difficulties, even the way we handled the success,” White told the Detroit Free Press. “I think we always represented ourselves and our values well along the way.”

Davis and White have been partners for two decades. An array of professional possibilities awaits them, from guest commentating to making appearances on behalf of sponsors to performing in ice skating shows at home and abroad.

For her part, Davis, 30, also wants to spend time giving back to the sport. She recently raised money via GoFundMe for Figure Skating in Detroit, a nonprofit group. The money was used to buy helmets for young figure skaters.

Davis hasn’t ruled out starting a business, either, in one of her other passions, fashion. Marriage and children are also possibilities.

White, 29, is still working on a political science degree from the University of Michigan. He has made his living performing in ice shows since Sochi, but has also recently been speaking his peace about politics and other topics - something he avoided during his Olympic days.

He recently told ESPN, both his wife, Olympic champion Tanith Belbin White, and Davis are supportive of his outspokenness.

"They know 100 percent that when I feel strongly about something, I can't stay silent,” said White. “We're on the same page in terms of what is important in the world, and there are things worth standing up for."

Photo by Erik Drost via Flickr commons