After Olympic title, Papadakis and Cizeron look for golden finish to season in front of home crowd at Worlds: Preview
The French team are heavy favourites in the ice dance discipline at the World Championships, with training mates Hubbell/Donohue and Chock/Bates aiming to complete a Montreal team sweep.
Figure Skating
A golden finish to the Olympic figure skating season is within reach for Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.
The French ice dance team, which captured the title at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 last month, is seeking a fifth World Figure Skating Championships crown this weekend.
They're doing so in front of a home crowd in Montpellier, France, and are aiming to become the first ice dance team to win five world championship titles in nearly 50 years.
Their chief competition are teams they are acutely familiar with: Montreal-based training mates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, as well as Madison Chock and Evan Bates - both of the U.S.
Last month, the International Skating Union announced that "no skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia and Belarus shall be invited or allowed to participate in international ice skating competitions," including the world championships.
That means Olympic silver medallists Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov will not be in attendance, nor will Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin (who placed fifth). Hubbell/Donohue won bronze last month in Beijing, while Chock/Bates came in fourth.
The ice dance rhythm dance kicks off the discipline's proceedings on Friday from 1100 local (CET).
MORE: Follow all the action from Montpellier - Check out our live blog
Ice dance preview: Field shines with depth
While the trio of top Montreal teams are favoured - and the two Russian teams absent - the ice dance field still features a depth that shone bright in Beijing. It will also be on display in Montpellier.
Notably, 2021 world bronze medallist Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, the Canadian duo known for its creativity and top-level skating skills. Gilles and Poirier had a costly error in their free dance in Beijing, dropping them to seventh place overall. They have been open about their disappointment since - but are using it as a tool to improve.
Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri were sixth in Beijing, the duo winning two European medals in their careers. They're seeking a first world medal in 10 appearances.
Four more Montreal-based teams are ones to watch: Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain; Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada; Great Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson; and Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the U.S. The teams finished eighth to 11th, respectively, at the Olympics.
Also to keep an eye on: Japan's Muramoto Kana and Takahashi Daisuke. Takahashi is a former world champion singles skater and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic bronze medallist. He and Muramoto have teamed up over the last two years in ice dance.
Schedule, how to watch World Figure Skating Championships 2022
The ice dance is the final discipline to get underway in Montpellier, with the rhythm dance set for Friday late morning (25 March) and the free dance scheduled for Saturday night.
All times are local to France - Central European Time (CET).
Friday, 25 March
11:00 Ice dance - rhythm dance
Saturday, 26 March
17:05 Ice dance - free dance
You can watch the world championships on your domestic broadcaster, or the ISU streams on YouTube in some territories. A list of ISU broadcasters can be found here.