They have won everything: an Olympic title, five world and European crowns, seven coronations in the French championship. After their gold medal at the Beijing Games in 2022, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron decided to take a one-year break, without “closing the door” on a return twelve months later. More than two years after this break, the two skaters have still not returned to competition.
If Papadakis and Cizeron continue to skate, particularly during shows like Holiday on Ice or galas, they are a long way from the world figure skating championships, which are currently being held in Canada. Since the Olympic title, the Frenchwoman has embarked on a therapeutic process to help her “denormalize” things which, in reality, had made me suffer”, as she confided in a long interview with France Info.
“The problem is that we authorize, accept and normalize a lot of violence. And we think that the results will just erase them or cancel them, or allow us to forgive everything. While not ! »
“These are not isolated acts”
Gabriella Papadakis takes the opportunity to denounce an unhealthy and normalized system in the world of figure skating. “These are not isolated acts, nor isolated people. It’s a climate. Me, for example, when I went on tour, I was between 16 and 18 years old. We were going on tour with Gilles Beyer [ancien entraîneur, aujourd’hui décédé, qui a été accusé de viol par Sarah Abitbol] ! Who was drunk, who made comments to us all day, and who came into the locker room when we were changing. »
Gabriella Papadakis also admits to having gone through a complicated period during the Covid-19 pandemic: “I think I was burned out for a long time. And I remained burned out. Today it’s much better, because it was a job [thérapeutique] that I couldn’t do while I was skating. »
