LONDON, Ont. - They have gold medals, world titles, and the undying admiration of an entire nation.

And now, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are being recognized in a new way for all they have accomplished

The two-time Olympic champions received honourary Doctor of Law degrees from the Western University Wednesday morning.

The local heroes were presented with the degrees and were the featured speakers at the university's 314th convocation.

"This has to be the highest honour of our entire career, it's something we would not have known to dream of or aim for," says Virtue. "To be here in my hometown at Western where my mom worked for most of her professional life, it’s incredible.. what a day".

Now that they have officially retired, Moir says it's interesting to be honoured in this way.

"We share a lot of similarities with the students who are ending that chapter of their life and entering the real world and we feel like that as well," says Moir.

"As much as I imagine the students would love to stay in college for their lives, we'd love to figure skate for the rest of our lives, but we're ready to move on."

The skaters took a few days off from their Rock the Rink tour to attend the ceremony. That show will be at Budweiser Gardens on Oct. 30th.