Delobel/Schoenfelder News-Isabelle is Pregnant | Golden Skate

Delobel/Schoenfelder News-Isabelle is Pregnant

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Quite a few reports in the French media that Isabelle is expecting a baby this fall. I wonder if this is a. true? and b. means the end of their competitive career? According to FFSG, there was a press conference earlier today.

Assuming this is indeed true, I hope all goes well for her with the pregnancy and the birth.
 
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skatingbc

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Isabelle Delobel to be a mum!

Isabelle Delobel has announced her pregnancy! She is due in September. Congratulations to her!

http://www.leparisien.fr/sports/autres/isabelle-delobel-sera-maman-avant-d-aller-aux-jo-de-vancouver-22-04-2009-488333.php

Sorry, it's in french. It basically just says that Isabelle is pregnant and due in September. She and Olivier still have a goal of Olympic Gold in Vancouver. That's pretty much the gist of it.

What does this mean for their season though? She won't be able to train 100% for awhile before the delivery and probably after as well (definitely not if she has a c-section!). To be honest, I don't see it affecting them too much, but you never know, especially considering her surgery.
 

skatingbc

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Quite a few reports in the French media that Isabelle is expecting a baby this fall. I wonder if this is a. true? and b. means the end of their competitive career? According to FFSG, there was a press conference earlier today.

Assuming this is indeed true, I hope all goes well for her with the pregnancy and the birth.

Ahh, you beat me to it!

I've got a article:

http://www.leparisien.fr/sports/autres/isabelle-delobel-sera-maman-avant-d-aller-aux-jo-de-vancouver-22-04-2009-488333.php

Looks like it's the real thing!
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
It's much nicer to report on baby news rather than injuries and rehab problems! Yes, it does look real and confirmed. Well, maybe Isabelle and Olivier's kids can skate together at the 2030 Olympics ;).

ETA: an article in English. Muriel Zazoui says this was a surprise for everyone, but Isabelle and Olivier hope to compete in Vancouver and she'll do everything she can to help them get ready. I'm not sure that will work, but I wish them all the best.
 
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antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Congratulations to Isabelle but seriously still thinking that the Olympic podium is a possibility must surely be comlpetely out?

She's due in Septemeber so she's four months pregnant. Her centre of gravity will be seriously skewed already so surely training seriously is out of the question. If the baby is not due til september (and it doesn't say when in september) they will surely not have enough training time to get up to scratch for the Olympics?

Ant
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
I hope that her pregnancy wont affect her training too much, but I'm delighted for her!
It'll probably keep her off the ice for at least 3-4 months, because I can't imagine she'll be able to do any serious training during the third trimester - certainly training lifts would be out of the question. My guess is that if they do manage to compete next season, we will not see them before Euros at the earliest. And they'll likely have to keep this season's FD, which I'm certainly all for!
 

sillylionlove

Medalist
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Congrats to her. But I have to agree with everyone....how can you train seriously for the Olympics.....during pregnancy and right after with a newborn at home. I would think that the Grand Prix series is out for them!!
 

Trewyn

Medalist
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Well congratulations to her! Might that have been the reason of their withdrawing from worlds? And yeah, the timing is a little bit weird... I can't see them win the Olympics now... I know they had a lot of doubt after their World title whether to go on or not... Ah well, I hope they'll still compete next season, but it seems so unlikely... She won't be able to train for months and months.
 

Alicja

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 17, 2009
First of all, congratulations to Isabelle!

I think there is a reasonable chance that they'll be at the Olympics. Providing that everything goes normal with her pregnancy, she should be able to keep training for quite some time, so that they might have there program layouts ready before she gives birth to the child. After all, Isabelle is an athlete which makes it very probable that she'll recover more quickly.
 

antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
First of all, congratulations to Isabelle!

I think there is a reasonable chance that they'll be at the Olympics. Providing that everything goes normal with her pregnancy, she should be able to keep training for quite some time, so that they might have there program layouts ready before she gives birth to the child. After all, Isabelle is an athlete which makes it very probable that she'll recover more quickly.

True enough but people's priorities change after they have a child. I've known a far larger number of women who were adamant that they would return to work as soon as humanly possible, only to give up work completely after the birth of a child, than have actually followed through with their plan. Even the ones who did follow through took longer to go back to work than they had at first planned too.

I know that the Olympics is a big incentive and a massive deal to the skaters, but the logistics of it all seems too much. The training time required once the baby is born would more or less mean the newborn would have to be left with family/friends/nannies. What about the travel to the Olympics, would you bring baby (who would be at most 5months old) to the Olympics? Who would care for the baby while there. Can you imagine the sleepless night before the CD/OD/FD or all three?

Hasn't a french dance couple just split up? I wonder if their decision would have changed if theyknew this?

Ant
 

museksk8r

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Many congratulations, Isabelle! May your baby be completely healthy and beautiful. Best wishes to the expecting family. :love::bow:
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
wow. this is really surprising. They are one of the favorites going into Vancover. I can't help but think that she could not have been planning on this happening. With the baby due in early fall, they could still skate in vancover, but won't be nearly as prepared as they should be for the olympics.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
They will have been off the ice for most of the year preceding the Olympics: January to April (due to shoulder surgery); July through October (third trimester through birth and recovery). Training during the early months of pregnancy will have to be limited, and they'll have just about 3 months after birth and recovery to train at full strength before the Olympics.

Their chances to medal at the Olympics seem iffy at best.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
I imagine this wasn't planned because the timing is really not ideal for her and Olivier to be in top shape for Olys. It would be really hard to combine caring for an infant with the kind of training needed to be medal contenders. But I'm sure Isabelle and her partner are happy and looking forward to being parents - according to this story, they plan to marry in June - and that she and Olivier will do their best to be prepared for Vancouver.
 

Audrey19

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
OMG. I'm of course happy for her and her partner and hope all for the best but - that is the worst possible timing.
Jeez, isn't it almost impossible to be really prepared to win an OGM. Seriously, I don't have much hope that it is going to work... Couldn't it have happened one year later...?
Anyway, congrats to Isabelle!
 

Tammi

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Seriously, after the judging done at Worlds, will it really matter if they're not at 100%? Seems to me that if the judges want them on the podium, that's where they'll be.
 

gold12345

Medalist
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Seriously, after the judging done at Worlds, will it really matter if they're not at 100%? Seems to me that if the judges want them on the podium, that's where they'll be.

Exactly my thoughts. Even if they don't skate flawlessly or have a lot of time to train, will it really matter if they have already been "chosen" for the podium? And this is ice dancing. While it's obviously very difficult, it's not like she's going to have to worry about maintaining triple jumps or anything through a pregnancy.

Congratulations to Isabelle! I feel a bit bad for Olivier, as I'm sure he wasn't expecting this at all during the Olympic season, but I think they'll be okay. Who knows though.
 
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