At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Canadian pair skaters Jamie Salé & David Pelletier achieved magic in their free skate, set to music from the film Love Story. When they finished their extraordinary program, you could hear a pin drop as the audience held their collective breath before erupting into thunderous applause. The cheers turned into boos when the scoreboard showed they had finished second, and in the days that followed unprecedented Olympic controversy unfolded as a judging scandal was revealed. Ultimately, Salé and Pelletier were named co-gold medalists and clearly also won the hearts of millions of fans around the world for the incredible grace and dignity they demonstrated both on and off the ice.

Reflecting back, Pelletier says they went to the Olympics knowing it would be a life-changing experience. They were prepared to finish anywhere from first to fifth, but, he says, “Nobody could get us ready or could imagine what life was going to be like after the scenario that happened.” The pair appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines.

That conviction led Salé (pronounced SA-lay) and Pelletier (pronounced PELL-tee-ay) to sign with the Stars on Ice tour, and they fully immersed themselves in learning to be the best performers possible. Although they continued to train with the same diligence as when they were competitors, they enjoyed the freedom of creating programs that suited them and not the judges. To keep their own skating growing and evolving, Salé and Pelletier have chosen to work with a variety of different choreographers: Lori Nichol (who choreographed their competitive programs), David Wilson, Renée Roca, Christopher Dean and Cindy Stuart.

Although no longer life partners, they remain mutually committed to raising their son Jesse, born on Sept. 30, 2007. Salé and son were featured on the cover of Today’s Parent, a Canadian parenting magazine. She also made appearances with him in connection to a commercial endorsement of Pampers.

While their love of performing remains undiminished, Salé and Pelletier have also been developing a career as TV commentators. They were part of the NBC broadcast team at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, where they appeared on daily segments called “Olympic Ice.” During one of the broadcasts Pelletier delivered a hilarious description of the dope testing that medalists must undergo. Each day, they were encouraged to come up with story ideas and he had thrown that out to a producer and two NBC executives. They called in the camera crew and he nailed it in one take.

Most recently they collaborated on the smash hit Canadian TV show Battle of the Blades, where Pelletier is a coach and Salé was crowned the winner of season one with her partner, former NHL star Craig Simpson. In season two, she partnered Theo Fleury.  In a season three twist, David became a competitor with female hockey player Tessa Bonhomme, ultimately winning the competition.