A few months after their Olympic consecration and a fifth world crown in ice dancing, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron have decided not to take part in any competition next season, without closing the door to a resumption in a year.
We decided to take a break from competition, take time to rest and focus more on shows and gala tours.explains Cizeron in an interview with AFP and the team.
The thing we are sure of is that we will not do next season. And for the rest, all the doors are still openadds Papadakis.
After winning their first Olympic title in Beijing in February, the 27-year-old skaters closed their season with a fifth world title, won in Montpellier in March. They then cast doubt on the follow-up they intended to give to their careers.
It wasn’t really a difficult decision to make. It was difficult to confirm, maybe because it’s new for us. We had never made this kind of decisionsays Papadakis.
But at the same time, I think it was obvious that we both needed to rest and that we would not resume competitions in the fall.she mentions.
Both skaters will notably miss the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, and will therefore dedicate their 2022-2023 season to touring and performing. They will take advantage of it above all to put their bodies to rest after more than 17 years of intense careers.
We are not going to train body and soul every day. Physically, it will be very relaxingsaid Cizeron, a little relieved.
Competition still requires determination, an inner fire. And either we have it or we don’t.
It’s hard to say why, it’s not necessarily once you’ve won everything that the fire goes out. It’s also a lifestyle, you have to have the desire to push yourself physically and artisticallyhe says.
On the program for their break year, a lot of galas, events in France, things to do… We will still be quite busysays Papadakis.
And after? Will they have enough motivation to return to competition and once again submit to such demanding training? If we stopped completely, it seems like we stopped completelyassures Cizeron.
There, we say that we are taking a year off because we are not closing the door on possibly resuming competition.
We’ve had our lives so settled and planned for the long haul all alongcontinues Papadakis, who put on his first skates at the age of four.
We also let ourselves go with the wind, with what we feel and what we want to do. Discover a little something else too and see what seems the fairest. For the moment, the only certainty that we have harvested is that we will not do next season.
In a career that has taken them to the top of their game, Papadakis and Cizeron, who have been training and living in Montreal since 2014, have established themselves as performers on the ice.
Their modern and innovative dance as well as their quality of interpretation above the lot have dusted off the world of skating. For Cizeron, what could make them want to come back would be precisely desires to create something, artistic desires.
The two skaters believe they still have things to explore together artistically.
Afterwards, are these show numbers for tours? Will it be competition programs? That’s a bit undefined at the moment.explains Papadakis.
I think we still have things to tell, but in what form, we don’t know yethe concludes.
France Media Agency
Source: Radio-Canada
