They share DNA. Now they’re sharing a bronze medal. U.S. ice dancing duo Alex and Maia Shibutani ak.a. the “Shib Sibs” placed third in the team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, on Tuesday, February, 20.
“It was incredibly special that we were there together,” Maia, 23, told Today on Tuesday. “We were able to see our parents in the crowd. Just such a special moment.”
Canadian darlings Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took home gold, while French pair Gabrielle Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron placed second.
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the United States compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance on day eleven of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 20, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
The Shibutani’s electrifying routine — set to Coldplay’s “Paradise” — came just one day after the brother and sister finished the short dance in fourth place. To get pumped up ahead of the event, they looked at footage from when they were just starting out.
“Maia did this kind of crazy thing last night. We were in fourth place going into the free dance and she pulled out her computer and she pulled up some old videos of us when we were little kids . . . we were wrecks,” Alex, 26, told Todayon Tuesday. “It was what we needed though, you reflect so much, especially here at the Olympic games. To have that moment today, it was perfect.”
Maia was four and Alex was seven when they first laced up their skates. “I Just fell in love wth it right away,” Maia told NBC News in 2016. Alex, who would accompany Maia in the rink, eventually got bored sitting in the stands watching. “I decided to try it because Maia was having such a good time,” he told the program, “and I was literally just on the floor looking for loose change so I could play arcade games.”
After skating individually, the Shib Sibs paired up in 2004.