Away from competitions for more than two years, French skaters Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, Olympic ice dance champions in 2022 and who will have participated in reinventing their discipline, announced on Tuesday that they were ending their careers.
“ It is with immense gratitude that we decide to turn the page “, they wrote in a brief press release. “ A huge thank you to our public for the pleasure shared with us on the ice. We take away wonderful memories. »
After their Olympic title won in the Beijing health bubble in 2022, they added the final touch to their season with a fifth world title won in March in Montpellier.
They then left doubt about their intentions before finally announcing a few months later, at the height of their career, their desire to take a break in order to “ take time to rest », after 17 years at a high level.
Since their withdrawal from the competitive circuit, they have participated in numerous show tours around the world, without ever closing the door to a return and have maintained the mystery about their projects.
But Papadakis and Cizeron, 29 and 30 years old respectively, finally decided to bow out, for “ take separate paths », at the end of a dazzling career, and will therefore not defend their title at the Milan 2026 Olympic Games.
“ We couldn’t have dreamed of a better career “, they added. “ We owe this career to our coaches, our parents, our federation, our choreographers, physical and mental trainers, costume designers, agents, physiotherapists, doctors, supporters, journalists… without whom we would never have reached the highest level of our art. »
New territories
For the two skaters, the adventure began on the ice of Clermont-Ferrand when Catherine Papadakis, their first coach and mother of Gabriella, decided to associate them in 2005.
Between Gabriella, with her easy and sonorous laugh, and Guillaume, more reserved, the flow passes immediately.
It was then in the summer of 2014, before their second winter as seniors, that the careers of the two dancers received a boost. The two French people pack their bags in Montreal to join their coach Romain Haguenauer and the school set up by Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. There they find the team and the training conditions that will propel them to the top.
Since then, Papadakis and Cizeron have accumulated awards: five world crowns (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022), five European crowns (2015-2019), a silver medal at the 2018 Olympics and finally Olympic consecration in 2022.
But beyond the medals, the world of skating will remember above all an unparalleled artistic ambition of the two French people.
Far from the kitsch and glitter that often flood the ice rinks, they demonstrated, program after program, their constant desire to explore new territories.
“ We want to innovate, do what no one has ever done and take skating in a new direction. », Ambitated Papadakis in 2016, then newly double world champion.
From their beginnings, they only heard “ not just beat others ” but also ” touch people »: mission successfully completed.
From “To Build a Home” by the British group Cinematic Orchestra in 2016, to Fauré’s Elegy awarded gold at the 2022 Olympics, they will have marked their era with the grace and lightness of their skating as well as their quality of interpretation, their area of excellence.
The “nightmare” of Pyeongchang
Another program from the couple will also be remembered, but not for the reasons they would have hoped. Coming for gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, the two skaters are living their “ worst nightmare “.
From the first seconds of their rhythmic dance, skated to the immense hit “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, the choker that holds Papadakis’ fringed top comes off. Destabilized by this mishap, they lost precious points, and despite a breathtaking free program, they saw the gold slip away from under their skates by 79 hundredths!
But four years after this bitter silverware, the two dancers came back stronger and managed to win in Beijing the only gold that was missing from their exceptional record.
“ Ineffable » for her, “ a washing machine of emotions » for him, who “ restrained from screaming “. “ The weight of this medal is amazing. It’s the symbol of everything we’ve been through », Explains Papadakis.
After more than two years of reflection, the ice artists finally decided to stop there, leaving the impression of having been close to perfection throughout their career.