The most decorated figure skater in Olympic history, Tessa Virtue spent 20 years pushing the boundaries of her sport, collecting five Olympic medals — including three golds — alongside her on-ice partner, Scott Moir. Now, as an executive advisor at Deloitte, with an MBA and a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology, she translates the lessons learned from her experience as an elite athlete into actionable strategies to help leaders and their teams unlock and empower high performance.
Tessa was the closing speaker at Showcase 2025 — Speakers Spotlight’s annual, client-exclusive, TED-style event. This year’s theme was “Meeting the Moment” with each featured expert offering clarity and guidance to better navigate the challenges ahead on a national, organizational, leadership, and individual level.
In her captivating presentation, Tessa took us on an intimate journey through her Olympic experience, sharing her tried and tested strategies for sustaining individual excellence and performance under intense pressure.
Tessa’s session was emotionally haunting and just a lovely storytelling piece.
Showcase 2025 attendee
The Vancouver Era: Naïve Ambition
Breaking down her presentation into three chapters, representing each of her Olympic games, Tessa defined her Vancouver era as a period of “naïve ambition”.
After narrowly missing the 2006 Torino Games, Tessa and Scott vowed to never be on the cusp of qualifying again. They were pushing for gold at the 2010 Olympic Games despite daunting odds — no North American team had ever won, no team had ever won at such young ages, and no team had won without first winning a World Championship or attending an Olympic Games, Tessa said.
They doubled down on training, often spending 12-14 hours at the rink. While this “more is more” approach earned praise from their coaches, it also earned Tessa a debilitating injury requiring surgery just one year before the 2010 Games.
Tessa spent her first Olympics in a massage chair, receiving eight hours of physiotherapy every day. Surrounded by the best athletes in the world, she felt ashamed as she counted the 282 steps to the cafeteria knowing if she took that journey, she wouldn’t be able to practice that day.
During competition, something came over them. “We took the ice at the coliseum and squeezed each other’s hands; we were just 7 and 9 years old again… We found flow together for the first time ever,” Tessa said. While we earned gold, we were not yet masters of our craft, she continued.
The Sochi Era: Win at All Costs
Ten months later, Tessa underwent surgery again. No longer the underdogs, they were reigning champions, and it was a heavy weight to carry. Anything less than gold at Sochi felt like failure, Tessa said. They lost themselves trying to meet others’ expectation while simultaneously losing faith in their coaches.
Before a crucial practice at Sochi that would determine their medal colour, Tessa told her coach exactly what she needed to hear to perform her best. When they announce our names, she said, tell me to focus on Scott. Instead, her coach pointed to the stands and said, “see every single one of those people out there, every judge, every official, every spectator, they are just waiting for you to make a mistake.”
Tessa and Scott left those games with two silver medals and completely disillusioned. With nothing left to give and completely void of joy, they decided to retire.
Pyeongchang Era: Excellence Over Perfection
Post-Olympics, Tessa and Scott toured the world, performing their routines. It didn’t take long for them to miss the competition though. To miss the energy of waking up with a clear purpose every day, Tessa said. They started asking, what if? What if we skated with coaches who believed in us? What if we tried a different style of skating? What if we could do things differently?
That list of “what ifs” was so compelling, we had to try again, Tessa said. With the mandate to do things differently, they relocated to Montreal and assembled a team of 20-25 experts across disciplines. They positioned themselves as “CEOs of their business,” rallying these specialists around a shared vision.
The Winning Formula: Three Mindset Shifts That Changed Everything
In that comeback period, Tessa and Scott made three key mindset shifts:
- Excellence over perfection: They stopped chasing perfection and instead pursued excellence. Excellence felt doable and sustainable. We could be 8/10 every day, Tessa said. This is what wins medals.
- Recovery as competitive advantage: Their greatest edge was being more rested than their competitors. We skated three hours a day, Tessa said, and worked harder than we ever had before.
- Getting comfortable with discomfort: For two years, Tessa and Scott meticulously simulated Olympic conditions — playing crowd noise, skating on rough ice, and deliberately practicing falls to neutralize their greatest fear. In turn, they gained more confidence in their ability to perform under pressure.
“I hated skating for 18 years,” Tessa said. “Those last two years ahead of the Pyeongchang Olympics, I loved every single second.”
What changed was her sense of agency, autonomy, and purpose. During their final Olympic performance, when the music ended, Tessa realized nine judges wouldn’t determine her worth or success. It was that moment that mattered — not because the skate was technically perfect, but because they found joy in the process.
The Power of Purpose: Elevate Your Performance
As Tessa ended her powerful story of transformation, she asked two questions: “Are you finding moments of meaning in your everyday that connect to your purpose, your why?” and “Are you chasing perfection or excellence?” These questions lie at the heart of sustainable high performance, whether on the world stage or in a corporate boardroom.
Bring this Olympic mindset to your organization. As a keynote speaker, Tessa shares her performance strategies, combining her elite athletic and professional experience with her academic background. Her insights help organizations build resilience, harness purpose, and maintain excellence under pressure.
Contact us today to learn how Tessa Virtue can transform your team’s approach to high performance.
