Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron | Page 175 | Golden Skate

Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron

SD from GPF and FD from Euros : I blinked and it was over - plus the easiness especially around the technical this time around was even more enhanced. I was in awe :clapper:

Best camerawork : hands down Nationals, slow motion for days !

Apparently they have not been seen in Pyeongchang yet (well on the ice), but I'm pretty sure they have arrived already. They're keeping it quiet on social media though ! I want pictures ! :laugh:
 
They're keeping it quiet on social media though ! I want pictures ! :laugh:

Same here! When you look at other skater's social media, there are pics of the Olympic rings, or pics with the mascots or whatever, but Gaby and Guillaume have gone dead quiet :laugh:
 
Are they doing the Team Event at all? Someone saw L/L practicing their SD... I don’t think it’s a good idea, they could use a „warm up” for their Short, it’s a smaller rink after all. Plus, with China not sending Sui/Han for their pairs, France could actually have a shot for long dance with PC participating there... And it’s always good to get the audience and the casual Olympics viewer interested in their program. Tessa and Scott will sure skate the hell out of their programs to get that team OGM and they may have the public on their side when the Event is finished.
 
Strategically it makes sense, they go into the individual event undefeated (this season) and with a much more favorable panel. No French judge in the team event. I do wish they could have practiced their SD, it is much more likely to be the segment where V/M beat them... but even another week of practice at home can make a huge difference. At this point I expect them to skip the opening ceremony too and I think a lot of these decisions have to do with how they are coping with the Olympic pressure. Ignore all the special Olympic buzz and treat it like any other simple SD+FD competition.

I wouldn't worry too much about the crowd. Sure V/M have a far bigger fanbase in Korea since they toured it extensively but the Olympic audience is huge and hardcore fans are in the minority.
 
Are we sure they aren't in Korea yet though? Didn't the French Fed get private ice somewhere outside the village for their whole team for the duration of all the figure skating events?
 
That's interesting! I wonder what those changes will be?

It makes sense to me, though, that they would want to debut any 'surprising' changes in the individual event, because at that point at least one of V/M's programs will have been seen already in the Olympic context, and probably both. Presenting fresh content (particularly in the SD, which V/M are pretty much guaranteed to have shown) against a program that's already been seen once in the same meet might be in their favour, particularly in terms of audience reaction.
 
Are we sure they aren't in Korea yet though? Didn't the French Fed get private ice somewhere outside the village for their whole team for the duration of all the figure skating events?

Wouldn't we have an airport sighting by now if they were there? Wouldn't they post at least something about landing in Korea on their social media?
 
If I've learned something is that it is never about the comeptition (here T&S), but about what's best for them : the Panel is not necessarily the best for them considering they might not go into the FPs anyway, they stay undefeated, France is not going to have a medal, and they don't have any breaks in trainings. They prioritize what's best for them, and since France is not going to make it to the finals, the whole team will be rested too, especially Vanessa and Morgan who don't need to be exhausted for Pairs...

But in the future ? please make the Team event AFTER the individual. So that it is a real fight, and not a warm-up for the individual expect if you are from Russia, Canada or USA.
 
Wouldn't we have an airport sighting by now if they were there? Wouldn't they post at least something about landing in Korea on their social media?

Not necessarily, this year IIRC, they only did that at GPF, not their GPs or even Europeans, we had to wait for somebody else's pictures :laugh:
 
Not necessarily, this year IIRC, they only did that at GPF, not their GPs or even Europeans, we had to wait for somebody else's pictures :laugh:

Yeah, I know how sneaky these two are :laugh: It's just that there is a huge media presence at the airport in Seoul, and the PyeongChang2018 Instagram is putting up pictures of the arrivals - if they managed to escape this, they must have some real ninja skills! (OR the media still believe that Pechalat/Bourzat are the French medal favourites and nobody knows of G&G's existence... :slink::rofl:)
 
Let's share some information with you.

Gaby and Guillaume won't participate to the Team event as officially announced by the French fed. If you read the official FFSG communiqué carefully, they say P/C are "working on sensational/great ("surprising" in the French version but I would rather translate it as "sensational/great") modifications to bring them to the OGM"

Gaby and Guillaume are not yet in South Korea. They will fly to Asia next week. According to the interview published on the ISU web site, they initially planned to participate to the opening ceremony and then train in a rink together with the French Team. This interview was recorded during the Europeans but they finally decided to change their plans and stay in Montréal to focus 100% on their Olympic preparation and make the most of the sports infrastructure of Gadbois. Practicing in a rink is definitely the biggest part of their preparation, but not the only one.

Other element taken into account, the OG environment (Olympic village, etc.) is not conducive to a complete and serene preparation. They perfectly understood that. Obviously, they won't take part in the opening ceremony but they are extremely mature, while being only 22 and 23, to know they will have time to enjoy the Games after the individual competitions.

Though being the youngest skaters among the top10 ice dance couples, one can immediately understand how committed they are to deliver their best on Feb 19th and 20th.
 
Let's share some information with you.

Gaby and Guillaume won't participate to the Team event as officially announced by the French fed. If you read the official FFSG communiqué carefully, they say P/C are "working on sensational/great ("surprising" in the French version but I would rather translate it as "sensational/great") modifications to bring them to the OGM"

Gaby and Guillaume are not yet in South Korea. They will fly to Asia next week. According to the interview published on the ISU web site, they initially planned to participate to the opening ceremony and then train in a rink together with the French Team. This interview was recorded during the Europeans but they finally decided to change their plans and stay in Montréal to focus 100% on their Olympic preparation and make the most of the sports infrastructure of Gadbois. Practicing in a rink is definitely the biggest part of their preparation, but not the only one.

Other element taken into account, the OG environment (Olympic village, etc.) is not conducive to a complete and serene preparation. They perfectly understood that. Obviously, they won't take part of the opening ceremony but they are extremely mature, while being only 22 and 23, to know they will have time to enjoy the Games after the individual competitions.

Though being the youngest skaters among the top10 ice dance couples, one can immediately understand how committed they are to deliver their best on Feb 19th and 20th.

Thank you Alain as usual for the information! And the fact that they are actually training in Gadbois instead of in the heat of the games makes me actually quite relieved for them (I thought they were in Korea already). Again, they are doing what's best for them and if they want to stay quiet and discreete it is for the better I imagine. Selfish me would have liked to see them in the Team Event obviously ;) (Plus I've heard about a virus going around the village, so it might be for the better health-wise).
 
Are we really doubting PC here? The team that's broken the WR every time they perform? They're after the perfect score, and they'll get it. This is the greatest ice dance team of all time.
 
The one person on their team who has worked wonders this season is their mental coach. They've been able to find their feet, survive the pressure of a head to head confrontation with Tessa and Scott, and improve their WR at every competition. Compared to their mental state last season... it's a blessing considering some skaters NEVER get over their nerves. Therefore if they are choosing to stay out of Korea as long as they can then I trust that it will put them in the best possible frame of mind on the day.
 
Back
Top