Gabrielle Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron became Olympic ice dancing champions after a dazzling performance on Fauré's Elegie.
The tricolor couple, silver medalists in 2018 because of the suit-gate, went through four difficult years before remobilizing to achieve this ultimate goal.
A title that is also worth redemption for the skating family, hard shaken by cases of sexual violence in recent years.
From our special correspondent in Beijing,
And suddenly, the lead screed became a feather.
After four minutes and croquettes of a short program carried out to perfection, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron knew – and their coaches with them, arms raised even before the end of Fauré's Elegy – that the gold after which they had so much run could no longer escape them.
Four years after Pyeongchang and this suit-gate that we never want to hear about again, here they are in the only place that suits them.
Up there, up there, at the top of world figure skating.
Quite honestly, from the press gallery of the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Monday morning, we had never felt such knots in the stomach since the start of the Olympics.
We may not have the sharp eye of a Peizerat or an Anissina (the last French to have won Olympic gold, it was in 2002), we followed each skate movement, each lift, each gesture arms with the trouillometer at ten thousand.
Praying that nothing will stop this millimeter broom prepared for four years in their Montreal Academy.
And, obviously, we weren't the only ones discreetly crossing our fingers under the table.
The fear of the quack, the freak of the "gling"
From the edge of the track, their trainer – who could be seen accompanying each step of the duo with subtle hand gestures, as if he were dancing with them – was taken by the same thoughts.
“They master free software 100%, I know that.
But still it must be balanced.
At every second, there is always the risk of a little hiccup.
Even if a small quack, given the gap with the competitors, would not have taken away the gold medal.
But I am a perfectionist, they are too, and it would have pissed us off if there was a little “gling” of the blade”, admits Romain Haguenaeur, relieved, in the bowels of the Beijing ice rink.
But no, “everything was clear, perfect, he appreciates.
A slew of 10 is unanimous today.
»
In the stressed family, we ask for the final boss, Nathalie Péchalat.
In tears in front of us (an hour after the judges' verdict), the president of the ice sports federation admits that she did not manage to "appreciate the program on an emotional level".
“I was too focused on technique.
I was like that [she mimes the pen ticking boxes]: one element passed, two elements passed, green light, green light.
I was finally able to enjoy the last ten seconds.
»
If Didier Guailhaguet's successor at the head of the federation was truly moved and happy for her golden duo, she also seemed upset, almost washed out.
Washed out by what she has just been through, and with her everyone in French figure skating, these two particularly trying years after the numerous sex scandals that have marred the tricolor institution.
“It was such a mess…, she breathes, tremolos in her voice.
They are two on the track but everyone counts, the clubs, the federation, the league, the teachers who trained them.
This is the time when we can turn around a little bit and finally appreciate.
»
Four years of work, seven minutes on the track, a gold medal, the account is good
But back to our two champions of the day.
Once quietly posed in the mixed zone, when one of our colleagues pointed out to them the level of tension of all the French clan, delegation and journalists included, Gabriella Papadakis laughed.
“Bah go ahead, go to our place, I swear you weren't stressed out there!
".
If the two skaters agree that this free program was nothing like a bike ride on the heights of Ajaccio (yes, sorry but after three weeks of freezing, we dream of sun, heat and of cicadas), it was nothing compared to their first visit three days earlier.
“For the short program we were ten times more stressed, observes Guillaume Cizeron.
I had never felt that, I wanted to vomit, I had relents... ".
Gabriella Papadakis cuts it off: “And I really thought I was going to faint from stress, I had never experienced that in my 17-year career!
".
Indeed, this "washing machine of emotion", as the 27-year-old skater says, is the result of four complicated years during which they went through just about every possible and imaginable emotion.
Personal doubts about their desire to put the cover back after Pyeongchang, questioning, confinement not very well experienced and trips/competitions canceled due to Papdakis' visa problem, nothing was spared them.
“That gold medal carried a lot more weight than it did four years ago,” Papadakis admitted.
At the time we knew we could win, but... But this one is a symbol of many, many more things.
It was all about that moment.
That's the symbol of everything we've been through over the past four years.
It's amazing to see the weight that this medal had in our heads!
".
Cizeron clarifies the thought of his partner: “We have always more or less won without necessarily wanting to, a bit like that: “oh, we won!”.
While it takes a lot more courage, it's a lot scarier to want to win, to work for and to risk being disappointed.
In Pyeongchang, we didn't necessarily have the courage to really take it on.
Over the past four years, we have surpassed ourselves psychologically for a specific, unique purpose.
And four years of work for 7 minutes is a lot of risk!
".
The costume-gate, here and yet so far
You know us, we would be remiss if we didn't ask them about the place that Pyeongchang couture had taken in their success of the day.
According to them, none.
According to Haguenaeur, so little and so much at the same time.
“It was something that was handled instantly.
We have a lot of humor all three, we still have a lot of fun in training, and that helped to quickly move on to something else, he says.
Well, I'm not saying that every day we are there "ahahah the dress!", but it was not at all a trauma.
It's not something that guided our preparation by saying "we're going to check the tunic 50 times".
»
And yet, he concludes, “nothing happens for nothing.
If it hadn't been for that dress, maybe we wouldn't be here today celebrating that medal.
Maybe they would be doing studies, or puzzles or whatever (laughs)!
If it happened, somewhere it might be so that it would be even more beautiful to win here and now”.
Sport
Olympics 2022: Far from homophobic attacks from Russia, Papadakis and Cizeron fly to gold in Beijing
Sport
Olympic Games 2022: From "Morpion" to "Robocop", how Quentin Fillon Maillet became the GOAT of world biathlon
China
Guillaume Cizeron
beijing
Gabriella Papadakis
Figure skating
Sport
Winter Olympics 2022
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print