Tessa Virtue is like a Disney princess come to life. Maybe it’s the Olympian’s other-worldly grace, her anime-like green eyes or the romantic plot lines she and partner Scott Moir so captivatingly play out on the ice, but one can easily imagine birds helping Virtue get dressed in the morning.

“Fairy tale” is a term that the London, Ont.-born skater uses herself in describing her and Moir’s journey to Pyeongchang, but rather than coming down to good fortune or fairy godmothers, their gold-medal storybook ending was the calculated apex of years of preparation.

“It was everything we dreamed of,” says Virtue, during a recent Toronto stop as part of her new role as Canada’s first-ever Nivea ambassador. “I’m so fulfilled by the process of spending two years crafting a plan with our support team and executing the details of that plan every single day, culminating in that Olympic fairy tale. In a lot of ways, we knew that’s what would happen because that’s what we trained for, but there were so many other factors that had to come together in order to live that dream.”

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Following Virtue’s lingering leg injury, the duo’s disappointing performance at the 2014 Sochi Games, a two-year hiatus from competition and a move from Michigan to Montreal to work with new trainers, the pair’s fiery Moulin Rouge free dance provided the perfect finale to their two-decade-long partnership. They claimed the gold ice-dancing medal and broke the world record for overall score, which had been set mere minutes before by their French training partners and rivals Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.

Fans lost their minds. Suddenly, it seemed everyone knew what a twizzle was. Virtue’s mother, Kate, even recounted how a cab driver in South Korea, who barely spoke a word of English, exclaimed “ice dance” when she told him she was Tessa’s mom.

“I still haven’t watched the video because I’m sure I’ll critique it,” Virtue says of that historic performance. “I’m trying to hold on to that feeling of looking into Scott’s eyes after we finished and thinking about the 20 years that led to that moment and thinking ‘Wow, we did it.’”

Cementing top status in a sport where success is entirely subjective, where judges’ scores are the topic of conspiracy theories and wins can come down to minute details, presupposes a relentless quest for perfection. It also places a huge deal of importance on aesthetics, especially for women, as costuming, hair and makeup play a big part in storytelling.

“It’s been really interesting because my career has been marked alongside a male, and we’ve achieved every single feat together,” says Virtue. “But, from a media standpoint, seeing the difference in coverage of how women are seen in sport, the commentary, the focus on appearance versus accomplishment has been a learning. You think ‘How are we in 2018 and this is still a thing?’”

For female skaters, the focus on appearance often includes scrutiny of their bodies. Take French figure skater Surya Bonaly, who came to prominence in the ’90s. Judges penalized her muscular physique, saying she didn’t fit the “ice princess” archetype.

“There’s definitely that ideal of the long and lean balletic frame, but I personally love seeing athletes that have a powerful attack in the way they approach their sport,” says Virtue, who remembers watching Bonaly at the 1998 Nagano Games. “I think people are coming around to that with the trend of overall fitness and health. Women aren’t as afraid to be strong. We don’t have to be these delicate little flowers. We can take on the world with grace and poise and a whole lot of muscle.”

“Women aren’t as afraid to be strong. We don’t have to be these delicate little flowers. We can take on the world with grace and poise and a whole lot of muscle.”

That’s exactly what the 28-year-old is doing, navigating life outside the rink with the same aplomb she displayed in the Gangneung Ice Arena. On top of her work with Nivea, she plans on completing her psychology degree and eventually pursuing an MBA. It’s an exciting albeit unfamiliar time for the athlete as she begins to branch out of that fabled partnership that’s enthralled so many.

“To be able to squeeze Scott’s hand or give him a wink or talk to him during our performances… I can’t imagine ever taking the ice without him. And I think that’s a testament to the partnership that we’ve worked so hard to build. But off the ice, we’re such different people, so it’s a natural evolution for me to pursue various ventures. We support each other in that way, but it is interesting. Like doing interviews, I’m used to turning to him and having us finish each other’s sentences. I miss having my partner in crime for that.”

Fans don’t have to mourn the duo just yet. They plan on continuing to train and do shows together for the next little while although not before a much-deserved break. Virtue jokes she hasn’t done anything physical since South Korea and has been enjoying a diet of chocolate croissants and champagne.

Before the Olympics, every moment of Virtue’s life was regimented, gearing up to that one fleeting moment. Now, she is figuring out what post-Olympics life looks like, calling it “chaotic but also really special.” Virtue, who admits that she prefers to work toward a clear goal, is drafting her next chapter and defining a new happily ever after.

Bare beauty

In training, as in skincare, Tessa Virtue prefers a streamlined, results-driven approach.

“I have a very simple, minimal routine,” says Virtue. “I try not to use too many products. Partnering with Nivea has been such a natural fit because it’s been part of my beauty regime for as long as I can remember. And funny enough, when I travelled to Japan, fans would throw the Nivea tin on the ice. This was before I officially signed with the brand and I was sending [the Nivea team] photos and telling them ‘It’s a sign that this is meant to be!’” Virtue calls out the brand’s micellar water as a personal essential. Of the rinse-free cleanser, she says, “Going from the gym to the rink to a press event or on the plane or whatever, it’s so easy.”