31 of March with Guillaume Cizeron your partner you won for the second year in a row the world title in Boston. A first for France !
GP: We were not expecting such a high score ! We beat the last Olympics champion and improve last year's performance by 5 points. My first thought when I heard the results was " My god, those numbers are gonna be hard to beat ! Will we be able to do even better at the 2018 Olympic Games
Your performance is all the more so mind-blowing because you had a serious accident last summer...
GP: In august 2015, during training, I fell on my head. It was in Montreal where I live. I stayed unable to move on the ice. 30 minutes after my fall, I could neither move nor articulate one word. Because I'm not one to panic, I did not feel distraught. I wasn't aware I was actually suffering from a concussion. The following weeks were extremely hard. I was not going out anymore. I had to keep lying down, i had lost my sense of balance, I was speaking very slowly reversing the order of the words. I couldn't read, the lines were blurring in front of my eyes, and I had horrible headaches. However, the MRI did not show anything suspicious. My brain rehabilitation lasted nearly 4 months. I had decided to go see a neurofeedback specialist. He confirmed the connections between my neurones were messed up. I hadn't expected the extent of the damage to be so important. Up to this day, I still have hard time to focus and I get tired very fast. Turbulences during flights are also very tough to bear. There was a lot of that this morning on the flight from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon ! After the strongest ones, I felt very dizzy for 20 minutes. I think it'll take years before I can fully recover from this incident.
Have you been afraid of not being able to get back in your skates ?
GP: Of course ! For some long weeks, Guillaume trained on his own. Then I started slowly, not more than 1 hour every two days, compared to 8 hours per day before. Guillaume has been really patient and very understanding. For months, I couldn't do lifts, spins or twizzles. I still have hard time to understand where I am coming out of a spin.
And you hanged on ...
GP: I went through long periods of feeling discouraged, as I was feeling very lonely. I had only one wish: go back to France to my parents' to be pampered all the more so because I was improving really slowly and I was sometimes even regressing. I couldn't put one foot outside, days were feeling like it was never ending. I also had lost my memory. I had become a vegetable.
Was Guillaume coming his arms full of little treats ?
GP: It's not really his style ! (laughter) And like we've said before, our relation is strictly professional. Guillaume is the last person in whom I would confide...
But, on the ice, when we see you embrace and his tender way to take you in his arms, it's hard to believe !
GP: This bond exists between us, but only at the ice rink. During training, we are in a bubble, completely outside of reality. Maybe, we're afraid of damaging this wonderful relation by hanging out together in real life.
Did you find time to fall in love ?
GP: Yes! I have a boyfriend for 1 year now. An Italian, 8 years older than me. He was a skater who became a coach in Milan. This relation helps me a lot. When I was stuck at home in Montreal, he would come and see me on the week ends just to cheer me up.
All those hours dedicated to skating since you're 4 years old, didn't it steal a bit of your childhood and teenage years ?
GP: I'd say skating has both stolen my life and saved it ...
Can you be more specific ?
GP: As a teenager, I could have turned out badly. I was attracted to bad boys. I liked tasting forbidden fruits. I was impressionable and psychologically fragile. I did all the naughty things one can think of. If I refused to take drugs during parties, it's solely because I was skating ...
We say " what doesn't kill you makes you stronger " ... Have your accident unable you to move forward ?
GP: It made me realize how fragile life is. Since, going out just for the sake of going out doesn't interest me anymore. I'm focusing on my real friends, I spend a lot of time reading. I'm passionate about linguistic and brain functions, an area I wouldn't have explored if not for what happened to me. Aside skating, I study English literature and I'm into theater.
Do you sometimes think of what's next after skating ?
GP: The training pace of a skater is exhausting and the career is much shorter than one of a dancer: it's over around 25 yr old when a ballet dancer can dance till 42. We never have any time for ourselves. We don't belong to ourselves. For three days, I've been so tired I keep on crying. The day after the competition, I was crying so much. My friends were sending me messages:" I suppose you're on a cloud!" They couldn't image the state I was in, as if I was not myself anymore. What's certain is that I couldn't do this for 10 more years ! I experience a short and enchanted period. Then, if I have that talent, I'd like to be an actress.
For the photo shoot, you came with your skates. Do you change skates as often as dancers ?
GP: A skater who changes skates has the feeling of not knowing how to skate anymore ! I own only one pair which I renew every year. They are fit for my feet, flat, long and thin. In competition, we always keep them close to us because we're scared a competitor would sabotage them in the changing rooms; rubbing a stone on the blade is enough. As crazy as it sounds, it does happen.
Really sad for comeptiion and Gabby having health problems. Hope it's just lack of rest.
