"There is not a sportsman who would not wish after the Olympics, after winning the gold medal, to have World Championships in his country. It's fabulous. It's the perfect scenario for an end perfect, if this is the end …”, summarizes to AFP Romain Haguenauer, the coach of the French duo for ten years, from Lyon to Montreal.

What follow-up will Papadakis and Cizeron give to their brilliant career, at 26 for her, 27 for him?

The question remains unanswered for the moment.

Even if the idea, at least, of a break, is gaining ground.

In the meantime, the French dancers, welcomed by a warm ovation from the Montpellier public, once again panicked the counters from the rhythmic dance on Friday afternoon: they were rewarded with 92.73 points, a new world record, almost two points above their previous one, established at the Olympic Games-2022 (90.83).

"Heartwarming"

"We really had a lot of fun here, appreciates Cizeron. The fact that our friends, our parents, our fans are there to support us, it really warms our hearts. That's one of the reasons why we wanted to come. Especially after Games almost behind closed doors, it feels really good."

"It was a great moment. It's nice to finish this cycle in France, it means a lot to us," adds Papadakis.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron illuminate the Montpellier Worlds, March 25, 2022 Pascal GUYOT AFP

Before the free dance scheduled for Saturday evening, the provisional podium is 100% Montreal - including the school where Papadakis and Cizeron have been training since 2014: behind them, follow two American duos, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (89.72, record personal), Olympic silver medalists in Beijing, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates (87.51, personal best).

“Returning to training after the Olympics is a huge challenge,” admits Cizeron.

"But that was the case for all the other skaters we train with. We supported each other a lot, encouraged each other a lot, and the little adrenaline boost from the public carried us to the end", complete Papadakis.

"You know you've succeeded when..."

At stake on French ice for Papadakis and Cizeron, also five-time European champions (2015-2019) and 2018 Olympic vice-champions: a fifth world crown, after 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, which would bring them closer to a unit of record of world titles held by the Soviets Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexandr Gorshkov (six titles in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976).

Enough to imprint their mark on ice dancing a little more.

It would also put them ahead of Andrée and Pierre Brunet, quadruple world champions in the inter-war period (1926, 1928, 1930 and 1932), and the only ones who can still compete with Papadakis (26) and Cizeron (27 years old) at the top of the pantheon of French skating thanks to their two Olympic titles obtained almost a century ago (1928 and 1932).

Gabriella Papadakis and her partner Guillaume Cizeron at the World Skating Championships in Montpellier, March 25, 2022 Pascal GUYOT AFP

It will then be time for the Clermont duo to look into the aftermath.

For the time being, Papadakis and Cizeron can measure the progress made in the light of the... 30,000 bottles of water with their effigy distributed over the week.

"You know you've succeeded in life when you're on a bottle of water," he laughs.

"All this work to end up on a bottle of water, it's wonderful," she adds.

The competition continues in the evening with the women's free program, largely impacted by the exclusion of the Russians decided in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian spinning tops absent, the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto is the main contender for world gold.

© 2022 AFP