SPORTS

Olympics champs Virtue, Moir win short dance at Skate Canada

Lori Ewing The Canadian Press
Published Friday, October 28, 2016 9:50PM EDT

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada perform in the ice dance short program during the 2016 Skate Canada International competition in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday, October 28, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Nathan Denette)

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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are poised to capture the Skate Canada International title in their return to competitive ice dancing.

The Olympic gold and silver medallists won the short dance on Friday, more than two years after their last major competition.

Skating to music by Prince, Virtue and Moir scored 77.23 points, and take a one-point lead over Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates into Saturday's free dance.

Virtue, from London, Ont., and Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., stepped away from competition after the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and have their sights set on gold at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang.

Earlier Friday, Canada's two-time world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford easily won the pairs short program, while Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch were third.

And Kaetlyn Osmond, a 20-year-old from Marystown, N.L., is second after the women's short program.