Michigan’s ice skating couple, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, have left Sochi, Russia setting world records and a gold medal victory!

Davis and White teamed up in 1997 and they are currently the longest lasting dance team in the United States. It all started when Charlie’s figure skating coach decided it’s time to pair him up, Charlie was about 6 years old. The first girl he suggested was way too shy and didn’t work out. It was that time of the age where boys and girls did not get along well and she seemed too shy to dance with a boy. The second choice was, yeah you guessed right, Meryl Davis who had to make the coach put a sticker on his forehead to not stare in his eyes. So that’s was how it came to be: The Great Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Meryl Davis was born on born January 1, 1987 in Royal Oak, Michigan and raised in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, the daughter of Cheryl and Paul D. Davis. She has one younger brother, Clayton. She is of English, Irish, Scottish and German descent. Meryl Davis was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade (which means she has trouble in her brain figuring out how to read some symbols making them look funny) and she struggled with reading until the 11th grade. In June 2005, Davis graduated from Wylie E. Groves High School. She was a member of the National Honor Society and, upon graduation, received the Phi Beta Kappa Society award.

Meryl Davis now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She attends the University of Michigan, where she is majoring in cultural anthropology, and also studying Italian. Davis began skating at age five on a local lake in the winter.She started out as a single skater, but began doing ice dance at age eight. She got as high as Midwestern sectionals in novice ladies before quitting singles to focus on ice dancing.

Charlie White was born on October 24, 1987 in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Jacqui and Charlie White, Sr. He attended Roeper School in Birmingham, Michigan from nursery school through high school where he played violin in the school string quartet and was involved with the student government. He graduated in 2005.

White formerly competed as an ice hockey player and helped his team to a state championship. Charlie White lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.He is a student at the University of Michigan, studying political science. Charlie White began skating at age five. He originally competed as both a single skater and an ice dancer. As a single skater, he won the bronze medal at the 2004 U.S. Championships on the Novice level, and competed internationally on the junior level. He quit skating singles following the 2005–06 season in order to focus on ice dancing.

They are the first American ice dancers to win the World title, as well as the first Americans to win the Olympic ice dancing gold medal.  In addition, their Olympic performance scored the highest point total ever recorded in ice dancing. They won the gold title in the 2014 Olympics at Sochi, Russia. Meryl Davis and Charlie White train in Arctic ice skating rink located in Canton, Michigan 6-7 hours a day 5 days a week.

“Charlie and I grew up 10 minutes apart from each other. Our parents are best friends. We’ve grown together and know each other so well,” said Meryl Davis.

Now Charlie White are practicing for the next Olympic and they are on Dancing with the Stars, season 18. Wish them luck!