Scott Moir, Romain Haguenauer reflect on the retirement of Papadakis and Cizeron: "As soon as they touched hands, it was just magic"
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, the reigning Olympic champions in ice dance, announced their retirement on Tuesday (3 December). The duo also won five world titles.
Figure Skating
"The fan in me is a little sad," three-time Olympic champion Scott Moir told Olympics.com on Tuesday (3 December).
Moir was reflecting the mood of many inside the figure skating world as the news of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron's decision to retire spread.
"La note finale" was the simple headline from French sports publication L'Equipe, blaring what had long been whispered but not confirmed until a press release Tuesday: That Papadakis/Cizeron would not, indeed, try and defend their gold medal from the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 at Milano Cortina 2026.
"It makes me emotional, even if I was not surprised," Papadakis and Cizeron's longtime coach, Romain Haguenauer said from Grenoble, France, where the Grand Prix Final is set to take place later this week (5-7 December).
"I'm not someone who looks backwards a lot because I don't like being too nostalgic, but I was thinking about the past 15 years," Haguenauer shared. "And especially the past ten years that we've been together in Montreal. It's a lot of very good memories."
Papadakis/Cizeron have the numbers of greatness: Olympic gold, Olympic silver, five world titles, five European titles, two Grand Prix Final wins and seven French championships.
But what made them so great? Ice dance had really never seen another duo like them.
"As soon as they touched hands, it was just magic," continued Moir, having trained alongside the French in Montreal with his partner, Tessa Virtue, from 2016-18. "They just knew how to be there for each other. What they were able to create was just so elegant and beautiful."
"What they brought the sport was this extremely athletic version of artistry," Moir added. "They were the strongest and fastest, and because of that they were able to push themselves to be these artists who could really... rise to the occasion."
Papadakis and Cizeron's impact on France - and ice dance
When Papadakis and Cizeron claimed gold at Beijing 2022, it marked the first time France had won a figure skating gold at the Olympics since another ice dance team, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, captured gold at Salt Lake City 2002.
Already superstars within the sport, the duo shot to further fame in their home nation, and were feted at what would turn out to be their final official competition, winning the 2022 World Championships in front of a boisterous crowd in Montpellier weeks after the Beijing Games.
"Gabby and Guillaume are very, very well known in France, and are particularly appreciated by the general public," explained Haguenauer, who coached the duo since they were juniors.
"The culture of dance and contemporary dance is huge in France and I think people recognised that [about them]. Yes, they were Olympic champions and world champions, but more than that, they touched people who are not particularly following sports."
Their retirement will loom large over this week's Final in France, which Moir said now represents a pivot point for the ice dance discipline in particular as teams skate closer to the coming Winter Olympics, in February of 2026.
"The world starts to rotate now around Milano and how you set up Milano," Moir said of the competitive figure skating realm.
He harkened back to the 2017 Grand Prix Final, when Papadakis/Cizeron beat Virtue/Moir just two months prior to the coming Olympic Games.
"I don't think we would have won the Olympics in 2018 if we hadn't lost to Gabby and Guillaume in 2017 at the Final," he said.
"A unique sense of artistry"
"I look back and reflect on our career," said Moir, "And I think we are so grateful for the rivals that we had. We able to measure ourselves against two of the best teams in the history of the sport" in Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Gabby and Guillaume.
For Haguenauer, Papadakis/Cizeron represent a team who trusted the process - and the people around them. He convinced the team to move from France to Montreal in 2014 as the coach was setting up a new academy with the Canadian duo Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.
Now, the Ice Academy of Montreal is one of the premier skating schools in the world.
"Everything started at I AM with them," Haguenauer said. "They were the first stone" we built with.
At this week's Final, four of the six ice dance teams train in Montreal at the Academy, including two-time and reigning world champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S.
"They brought ice dance to excellence, to the excellence of what ice dance should be," Haguenauer said. "They were at the top of their game for eight years - that's a long time.
He continued: "They have brought a style, a unique elegance and a unique sense of artistry in ice dance... no, in all of figure skating."
"I just dont think we can ever have the conversation about the best ice dancers of all time and not have their names included," Moir concluded. "I just don't think that's possible."