Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron

[MelDee]

According to Morgan's Instagram story, it appears that the whole French team is headed to an Olympic camp in Toulon. I wonder if this is like a training camp for French skaters or if it's an event where all French winter athletes get to meet? Anyway, it seems fun!

EDIT: Both Gaby and Guillaume are sporting some cool Lacoste clothes in their Insta stories It does indeed seem as an Olympic camp for all French athletes - even Martin Fourcade posted on his social media that he's on his way there.

 

[Camille1409]

Yup it's the Preolympic meeting for the French team. There is one for every OG. I think they will receive all the sponsorship stuffs, etc etc

 

[oat]

It would be a good thing if they can talk with others french champions, to share their experience and mainly with Martin Fourcade. A champion who is present the D day.

And MelDee, I see you're from Czech Republic.
The atmosphere at Nove Mesto during biathlon was just incredible :shocked:
What a fantastic crowd

 

[yuna13]

Both Gaby and Guillaume are sporting some cool Lacoste clothes in their Insta stories It does indeed seem as an Olympic camp for all French athletes - even Martin Fourcade posted on his social media that he's on his way there.

you mean my 3 fav athletes are at 20 min from my home!!:hap93:
why am i working tomorrow? perhaps i'll try to go there.

i'm sure they will be an article on l'équipe and also a tout le sport reportage.

martin is such a good ambassadeur for his sport but also for sport values in general. what he did (put the light on his sport) is what i want to happen to skating in france.
gabriella and guillaume deserved to be more recognized in france.

 

[Camille1409]

you mean my 3 fav athletes are at 20 min from my home!!:hap93:
why am i working tomorrow? perhaps i'll try to go there.

i'm sure they will be an article on l'équipe and also a tout le sport reportage.

martin is such a good ambassadeur for his sport but also for sport values in general. what he did (put the light on his sport) is what i want to happen to skating in france.
gabriella and guillaume deserved to be more recognized in france.

Ahahaha I Know your pain when they came to Lyon I was "why have I to go to school ??!!!" And juste to have them in France it's so raaaaaare.
I totally agree with ! I think most of the Olympic athletes are a good value to their own sport !!
For Gaby and Guillaume don't worry with the OG they will surely be put in front of the figure skate team.
I don't know about you but see them in French team suits make me sooooooo happy. I can't stop smiling and I can't wait for the season to start !!

 

[MelDee]

And MelDee, I see you're from Czech Republic.
The atmosphere at Nove Mesto during biathlon was just incredible :shocked:
What a fantastic crowd

Aw, thank you! I'm very pleased that Nove Mesto is remembered like that There is a "biathlon fever" in the Czech Republic, everyone here (including me ) is absolutely obsessed with biathlon

you mean my 3 fav athletes are at 20 min from my home!!:hap93:
why am i working tomorrow? perhaps i'll try to go there.

i'm sure they will be an article on l'équipe and also a tout le sport reportage.

martin is such a good ambassadeur for his sport but also for sport values in general. what he did (put the light on his sport) is what i want to happen to skating in france.
gabriella and guillaume deserved to be more recognized in france.

If you do go there and happen to meet Gaby and Guillaume, please tell them how big of a support they have from their fans and that we wish them good luck for the Olympic season

Martin is an incredible athlete! The Czech commentators always call him "Martin the Great" during biathlon races But he really is, not only because of his success, but also because of what he stands for - his fight against doping is remarkable.

 

[yuna13]

Aw, thank you! I'm very pleased that Nove Mesto is remembered like that There is a "biathlon fever" in the Czech Republic, everyone here (including me ) is absolutely obsessed with biathlon



If you do go there and happen to meet Gaby and Guillaume, please tell them how big of a support they have from their fans and that we wish them good luck for the Olympic season

Martin is an incredible athlete! The Czech commentators always call him "Martin the Great" during biathlon races But he really is, not only because of his success, but also because of what he stands for - his fight against doping is remarkable.

right now i'm on columbo mode. i think i find their hotel (after checking instagram and twitter pages of a lot of athletes!). looks like they are in sanary (so close).
i'll go tomorrow after work.
if i see them i will pass the message no my boyfriend will cause knowing me i'm going to smile and not being able to talk.
good thing my bf loves martin, he won't mind waiting.

edit: they are not in sanary , they are in londe les maures https://twitter.com/Odalys_Vacances/status/869182796740399105

 

[maya1985]

gabriella and guillaume deserved to be more recognized in france.

Oh que oui! (Yes!)
They are virtually unknown. The only familiar names for the French are: Candéloro, Anissina/Peizerat, Joubert and Péchalat. People do not know that we have double world champions (except those who follow figure skating.
Maybe with the Olympics there will be a little more camera on them but it is not certain (there is biathlon, ski ...). They train in Canada, so it is a handicap for French journalists. The Winter Olympics are less followed than those of summer, there will be a big time difference with Korea (the event will be in the night).

 

[yuna13]

Oh que oui! (Yes!)
They are virtually unknown. The only familiar names for the French are: Candéloro, Anissina/Peizerat, Joubert and Péchalat. People do not know that we have double world champions (except those who follow figure skating.
Maybe with the Olympics there will be a little more camera on them but it is not certain (there is biathlon, ski ...). They train in Canada, so it is a handicap for French journalists. The Winter Olympics are less followed than those of summer, there will be a big time difference with Korea (the event will be in the night).

skating doesn't have a good image in france this is also why i was fustrated by what happened at euros and worlds. it didn't help to change the sport reputation in france.
not to mention that a lot of people won't understand why they trained whith their rivals and with can coaches.
but considering that france won't have a lot of medals if P/C get one they will show again and again their performance.
the media will be on martin, the ski (go tessa!) and gabriella and guillaume. after all they are france best chances at olympic gold medals.

 

[Camille1409]

https://twitter.com/franceolympique/status/869206836758683649

Pétanque seems to be the new sport of the OG


If some of you want precisions about the camp. according to the town hall website, it's basically a meeting for the french delegation. There will be some meetings with locals. They will perfect their physic training, meet the others athletes, etc.

"Du 29 mai au 2 juin prochain, un rassemblement de cohésion des athlètes de l'équipe de France qui participeront aux Jeux Olympiques d'hiver 2018 de Pyonchang, en Corée du Sud, aura lieu à La Londe. A cette occasion, la Ville mettra à leur disposition ses équipement sportifs et organisera une grande rencontre avec la population londaise.
Cet événement a été préparé lors de la venue, début mars de Patrick Cluzaud, directeur de la délégation sport et haut niveau du CNOSF, le Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français. Ce stage pré-olympique, qui se déroulera à la fin du printemps, à La Londe permettra d'accueillir une délégation de 150 sportifs français engagés pour les prochains JO d'hiver, qui pourront y peaufiner leur préparation et se préparer à cette grande et belle aventure sportive. Choisi pour son environnement exceptionnel, La Londe mettra à la disposition du CNOSF et des athlètes toutes ses installations sportives et d'accueil pour que ce stage soit le plus bénéfiques pour nos futurs médaillés !"

 

[maya1985]

not to mention that a lot of people won't understand why they trained whith their rivals and with can coaches.

People who are aware of that already know Gabriella and Guillaume (at least vaguely who they are).
I exaggerated a little in my previous post, yes the time of the Olympics there will be some media coverage and a little more if there is a medal at the key.:luv17:
The "problem" of G/G is that they won everything immediately, the public (and the journalists) did not know them at all.

 

[Camille1409]

Hehehehe they know how to make us happy ! Here a link from the Olympic French team's Flickr account with pics from the camp
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132011981@N04/sets/72157681453001663

 

[Camille1409]

Summer time means new practice method and a lot of fun https://www.facebook.com/sportsdeglace/videos/1798437533506060/

 

[Altie]

skating doesn't have a good image in france this is also why i was fustrated by what happened at euros and worlds. it didn't help to change the sport reputation in france.
not to mention that a lot of people won't understand why they trained whith their rivals and with can coaches.
but considering that france won't have a lot of medals if P/C get one they will show again and again their performance.
the media will be on martin, the ski (go tessa!) and gabriella and guillaume. after all they are france best chances at olympic gold medals.

I think there are still plenty of people (well, women) who love to watch skating on TV once very four years in France. Perhaps not among the young generation, but for those who knew the "golden age" I think there's still a tenderness toward this sport.
And with Vanessa and Morgan, and Gabriella and Guillaume - I think there's room for the media to advertise the sport this time.

 

[MelDee]

I think there are still plenty of people (well, women) who love to watch skating on TV once very four years in France. Perhaps not among the young generation, but for those who knew the "golden age" I think there's still a tenderness toward this sport.
And with Vanessa and Morgan, and Gabriella and Guillaume - I think there's room for the media to advertise the sport this time.

True. I'd like to think that with the Olympics next year, many people who are only casual viewers and only watch the Olympics, will take interest in figure skating. Especially with the likes of Gaby and Guillaume, and Vanessa and Morgan, who are not only talented, but also charismatic and attractive - they are perfect for the marketing aspect of the sport. For instance Gaby and Guillaume's off-ice dancing videos are precisely what makes more people interested in the sport, or Vanessa and Morgan's smart music choice of a song from Fifty Shades of Grey (even though the books and movie suck, them skating to it got them noticed by freaking Entertainment Weekly!). Or Gaby and Guillaume's last year's EX from Worlds to Can't Feel My Face - that also got a lot of hits of Youtube, but there was the music copyright issue. I feel like there is an interesting conversation to be had about ways to make figure skating more commercial. If there are skaters or teams that can potentially "go viral" next year when the wide public discovers them, I think that Gaby and Guillaume are definitely among them - and I do have a feeling that France is about to find out the level of talent they have in figure skating.

 

[andromache]

Just spent the past half hour or so rewatching the recent FDs from P/C. So, I adored Mozart. But I adored "To Build a Home" so much more that I had forgotten how darn GOOD Mozart was, until rewatching it now. And as much as I loved Mozart and especially To Build a Home, neither compares - they need something more mainstream than this year's FD in order to contend.

 

[all that]

When the world's casual Olympic viewers watch P/C, they will be transported. I imagine there will be a huge boom in figure skating popularity after they skate.

 

[Mattieu]

i agree. Their free skate will be the Bolero moment of these games.

Yep, I think they will be one of the most memorable Olympic Gold medallists since Torvil and Dean!

 

[Anyasnake]

When the world's casual Olympic viewers watch P/C, they will be transported. I imagine there will be a huge boom in figure skating popularity after they skate.

They brought this touch of modern in Ice Dance that was missing, or at least, that can be seen since they are a top team. Look at the difference between the FD music and the single skaters music for the upcomig season : Ice Dance is THE competition to watch. All styles are here, yet it feels fresh and modern. I am not the biggest fan of the latin SD (Torino's disaster) but I could be surprised and I hope to be. But the Free Dance...
I CANNOT WAIT. We might see one of the best FD event ever at the olympics ! (No jinx !!)

And if P/C skate the way they do, which means focusing on the emotions and the magic, we're in for a popularity boost for the discipline. I'm taking it !

 

[skylark]

When the world's casual Olympic viewers watch P/C, they will be transported. I imagine there will be a huge boom in figure skating popularity after they skate.

I agree. As Charlie White said after Gabriella and Guillaume's FD at Worlds 2016, watching them skate is like experiencing a work of art. You just don't want it to end. In the arena, people are hushed. And that transporting quality comes right through the tv too.

P/C may wake many new people up to what figure skating really is, at its best.... the transfer of genuine emotion from skaters to audience.