Olympic great Scott Moir credits coaches-turned-colleagues for rediscovering his love of skating

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir came out of retirement to compete at the 2018 Olympics with a "stone cold" focus.

Their ferocious gold-medal pursuit led to a fierce push and pull with Montreal coaches Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, whose focus was on the process and not the outcome.

"They helped us understand that [gold] actually wasn't the goal. Our goal was to be the best we could possibly be . . . but the double-edged sword of it is it allows you to be your best as well, when you have your priorities and you're connected with the joy of skating and why you started skating," Moir said Wednesday at Skate Canada's national team training camp.

"And the higher you get, the higher the pressure is. And you forget that so easily."

Virtue and Moir retired after winning gold at the 2018 Games as the most decorated ice dancers in history.

WATCH | Moir, Virtue Canada's couple of the decade at Olympics:

Moir hadn't considered coaching as a career, but he was so sold on the philosophy instilled by Dubreuil and Lauzon at the Ice Academy of Montreal (I.AM), he became the head of their satellite program in London, Ont.

"My time in Montreal changed . . . well, it changed my life. I know Tess feels the same way," Moir said. "I fell back in love with the sport again."

Dubreuil, Lauzon and former French skater Romain Haguenauer co-founded the academy in 2014. They had one team in the Sochi Olympics that year. They had four teams four years later in Pyeongchang, including Virtue and Moir.

In Beijing, country allegiances seemed to melt away between the 10 Montreal-based teams. Instead there were plenty of hugs and high-fives.

"We take care of the human being more than anything else," Lauzon said in Beijing. "I think that's what draws