Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron to skate together for France

[Flying Feijoa]

I feel for Natacha LaGouge and Arnaud Caffa. I really like this team, and it seems like they were starting to surpass Marie Dupayage / Thomas Nabais. I was rooting for them to make it to the Olympics. But, of course Fournier-Beaudry / Cizeron have every right to pursue skating for France, if they choose.

This kind of reminds me of the 2020-21 season, where the 2 French teams at 2021 Worlds (Galyavieva/Thauron, Lopareva/Brissaud) both knew they had no shot at the Olympics. The circumstances were a little different than here, but basically because Papadakis/Cizeron took the pre-Olympic season out, France went down to one spot, which was clearly going to P/C on their return. There were very understandable reasons for the break, and I think anyone in P/C's shoes would have done the same. Still, if not for this, we might have seen G/T skate a while longer.

 

[peepsquick]

This kind of reminds me of the 2020-21 season, where the 2 French teams at 2021 Worlds (Galyavieva/Thauron, Lopareva/Brissaud) both knew they had no shot at the Olympics. The circumstances were a little different than here, but basically because Papadakis/Cizeron took the pre-Olympic season out, France went down to one spot, which was clearly going to P/C on their return. There were very understandable reasons for the break, and I think anyone in P/C's shoes would have done the same. Still, if not for this, we might have seen G/T skate a while longer.

I always thought Louis Thauron stopped skating because of injuries...

 

[Seven Sisters]

Such negativity and nitpicking, especially since many dance fans have been consistently wishing for several seasons now that we wouldn’t continue to have the same old, same old logjam of teams at the top, so boring, so predictable, etc etc.

This throws the cat among the pigeons in a major way. Whether they skate for France or skate for Canada, I am 100% here for it.

 

[Dreamer57]

Does she not have Danish citizenship? It is usually easier to get citizenship in an EU country if you are already a citizen of another EU one.

Adding to the other replies, I remember reading that one of the obstacles was not having the residency requirement. I think Laurence had even learned Danish language at that time, but they could not make an exception for her to acquire the citizenship.
The Danish skating federation were very supportive of them as a team.

I might have to double check but didn't France only have 1 spot going into 2022 Olympics because P/C couldn't attend the prior worlds?
At least, there is a good chance that France can keep 2 spots in this year's worlds (but 3 would be nicer).

 

[Flying Feijoa]

I always thought Louis Thauron stopped skating because of injuries...

You could be right, since they would have stood to gain in the next Olympic cycle. I think maybe he would have stuck it out one more season if there was a chance of them going to Beijing.

 

[Chantilly]

The plot thickens is all I’m going to say.

 

[TT_Fin]

No matter what they do, no matter how their synch, no matter if they make mistakes. They will get very high scores anyway. But I hope they are good and match together and really earn the scores they will get, not just get scores because of they are who they are.

 

[Kittosuni]

Such negativity and nitpicking,

Come on now, you dont have to be genius to be able to read between the lines about the ultimate reason why such reactions are coming from some fans despite masking it as “concern” and what not.

They know their fave is about to be sideline for the new hot shot and gold medal contender in town. There.

 

[FSFan1999]

Skating skills etc aside, you have to wonder about the pressure that comes with skating with one of the greatest skaters of all time, who won olympics (and numerous world championships) with his previous partner? It's a lot to live up to.

I do feel sorry for Lopereva/Brissaud who will probably be politically sidelined now, and never reach maximum backing (up to now I'd have said they are on track to win worlds in next quad). As for the other teams who are impacted by this - they need to be motivated to improve. Unless they recieve huge political bonuses, they are still beatable. It's down to the other teams to skate better.

Of course, I have my personal qualms and issues with both these skaters, but realistically there are so many people as bad as them or worse who are still competing, so I won't really focus on that.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

I find some of the reactions on here and social media are just ridiculous.

It's not "unfair" on other teams- it's a competition. If they're the better than other teams then they're better. Those other teams have to do their best. If that's not good enough, then it's not. A lot of people want to go to the Olympics and the majority of them can't and don't. That's the reality.


Plus they might not end up doing as well as some assume or there could be citizenship issues.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

if so i'm sorry for Fabbri/Ayer and Lauriault/Le Gac

Lauriault and Le Gac have already been to an Olympics (when they competed for France). Should they step aside for Fabbri and Ayer, just to make it "fair"?

 

[Ruthypegs]

It really does put in perspective the answer of Gabby when she was asked if she would skate with Guillaume again.
I am sure she already knew this was happening. I agree they certainly have been trying things out for a while at this point.

I don't know what Gabby's answer was, but if she hasn't completely retired from skating, and if Kaitlyn Hawayek has retired, then I wonder if Jean-Luc and Gabby could team up for UK? (This is purely for selfish reasons, as I think they're both fabulous skaters, and would love to see them return, and obviously, I'd benefit from getting to see them at Nationals )

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Come on now, you dont have to be genius to be able to read between the lines about the ultimate reason why such reactions are coming from some fans despite masking it as “concern” and what not.

They know their fave is about to be sideline for the new hot shot and gold medal contender in town. There.

Some of the reactions to this news demonstrates how infantilising skaters and turning them into wronged victims is so normalised amongst a lot of figure skating fans.

Though some of the hostility is because people dislike them for other reasons. But why should they let strangers on the internet dictate their lives?

 

[TT_Fin]

Yes, I agree it is not against other team if comeback teams skate better and other teams just must improve their skills to be better. What may be an issue there is they do not really not to have to be better than other teams to get good scores. I hope this does not happen, but it has happened.

 

[FSFan1999]

Yes, I agree it is not against other team if comeback teams skate better and other teams just must improve their skills to be better. What may be an issue there is they do not really not to have to be better than other teams to get good scores. I hope this does not happen, but it has happened.

In the sense though that would be replacing the current top teams, who already do not have to be better to get better scores (not saying they are not better, more that they get the scores reguardless of if they skate better)

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Yes! I thought about this possibility when I saw that post a while back of Cizeron with Laurence. They are friends, of course. But I thought about the possibility of them partnering, especially when the retirement of Pap/Ciz was announced. Laurence is such a great ice dancer. It will be so huge to see her back on the ice again. And with Guillaume Cizeron, to boot!

They have probably been preparing and figuring things out. Laurence should not have too much trouble obtaining French citizenship. But I can't imagine they would be able to go to 2026 Olympics, unless Laurence has direct French ancestry. More likely, they are in it for 2030.

 

[GGFan]

Now that I've gotten over the shock my love for drama has taken over . This adds a wrench into the mix and if nothing else it will make the Olympic season more exciting. I'm all for it from that perspective.

I'm not the one who will have to deal with the comparisons to my previous partner, etc. etc. so I'll just grab my popcorn.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

honestly i see it too as a James/Radford operation, it might be easier for him to get canadian citizenship (as far as i know he still lives and works there), if so i'm sorry for Fabbri/Ayer and Lauriault/Le Gac

Lauriault/Le Gac are veterans who are backing up in the standings due to not having great blade skills. They do a lot of tricks (fun and entertaining) with their upper bodies in order to take the focus away from their lack of blade skills. They skate a lot on the flats of their blades. Fabbri/Ayer have benefited by the fact Laurance & Sorensen are out of the Canadian ice dance lineup. F/A are young and talented. They will be okay.

It appears that Guillaume & Laurance will skate for France, in any case, which makes sense, so maybe your sympathies should be with the up-and-coming French teams. Honestly, this is the sport and that's the way it is. Remember when Virtue/Moir came back? Weaver/Poje and Pap/Ciz, among other teams, had to deal with V/M's return.

 

[paulusfr]

It's official now.

GUILLAUME CIZERON on Instagram: "Il y a quatorze ans, nos chemins se sont croisés, comme deux étoiles destinées à briller dans un même ciel. Depuis plus de dix ans, nous grandissons côte à côte, partageant joies, défis et une passion inébranlable pou

33K likes, 835 comments - guillaume_cizeron on March 2, 2025: "Il y a quatorze ans, nos chemins se sont croisés, comme deux étoiles destinées à briller dans un même ciel. Depuis plus de dix ans, nous grandissons côte à côte, partageant joies, défis et une passion inébranlable pour la glace. Nous...

www.instagram.com

 

[Karoltyna]

It's official now.

GUILLAUME CIZERON on Instagram: "Il y a quatorze ans, nos chemins se sont croisés, comme deux étoiles destinées à briller dans un même ciel. Depuis plus de dix ans, nous grandissons côte à côte, partageant joies, défis et une passion inébranlable pou

33K likes, 835 comments - guillaume_cizeron on March 2, 2025: "Il y a quatorze ans, nos chemins se sont croisés, comme deux étoiles destinées à briller dans un même ciel. Depuis plus de dix ans, nous grandissons côte à côte, partageant joies, défis et une passion inébranlable pour la glace. Nous...

www.instagram.com

I still don't have opinion on this partneship but whoever wrote this post isn't well versed with words. It's giving edgy teenager vibe.