Paris (AFP)
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, 2018 Olympic vice-champions and four-time world champions in ice dance, had an ideal international comeback by winning the French Grand Prix of Figure Skating on Saturday in Grenoble.
Papadakis and Cizeron (both 24) totaled 222.24 points, less than one point shy of their world record (223.13 pts), after dominating the free dance (133.55). Their closest competitors, Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, are relegated to more than seventeen points (204.84). Dizzying.
On what they describe as a "poetic slam", precisely the spoken words of the Canadian artist Forest Blakk's "Find Me", mixed and arranged with a composition of the Icelandic musician Olafur Arnalds, sober black outfits have replaced their tart and flashy costumes, pink and turquoise, raised for their rhythmic dance the day before.
Friday, on pieces of the musical "Fame", the duo of skaters had already taken off, with a new world record points (88.69) of the short dance.
Next deadline for Papadakis and Cizeron: the Japanese Grand Prix, in Sapporo, at the end of November, with the aim of "doing even better".
- First podium for Aymoz -
Before going on ice, the two dancers had skated only the Masters, traditional national competition of beginning of season.
On the men's side, the young Frenchman Kevin Aymoz climbed on his first Grand Prix podium on the third step (254.64), after a free program rewarded with a new personal best (172.14, 2nd), punctuated by two quadruple jumps, at the reception however not perfect, and five triples.
"I put all the energy I had in this competition and I struggled with myself during my programs, and I'm really happy to get my first Grand Prix medal at home," he said. Aymoz.
Unsurprisingly, reigning world champion Nathan Chen, who scored four quads on Saturday, dominated the head and shoulders competition (297.16).
Grenoble hosts the third of the six stages of the Grand Prix. The final of the circuit, bringing together the top six in each of the four categories (Dance, Men, Ladies and Couples), will take place from December 5 to 8 in Turin, Italy.
© 2019 AFP