Papadakis and Cizeron reign in Grenoble

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France took gold at the 2017 2017 Internationaux de France today, qualifying for the Grand Prix Final next month. USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates maintained second place to finish with the silver, while Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin of Russia pocketed the bronze.


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“We felt really good tonight,” said Cizeron. “We felt really supported by the audience. It feels like home here, well it is home, and we are very happy with the scores. We had a clean program and we’re very happy with the improvement that we’ve made.”

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“We really wanted to take this opportunity and have something that was really meaningful to us and hopefully to other people,” said Chock. “We hope when they hear the music, they also feel it’s meaning as well because the world is crazy right now. Things aren’t perfect, but I think our message and what we want to share with the world is that there is hope and show people that things will get better. By working as one and being kind to one another, it can be achieved.”

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“We are very pleased that our coaches told us we skated with our soul today,” said Stepanova. “It was really important for us. We are also very happy to have taken third place again in our second Grand Prix.”

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What are your thoughts on the ice dance event in Grenoble? Do you think the French will "reign" at the Final?

What are your thoughts on the ice dance event in Grenoble? Do you think the French will "reign" at the Final?[/QUOTE]

I do not. I think they'll be silver behind Tessa and Scott. I think the US will be sending 3 teams to the final and though the point spread will probably be considerable, I'm hoping one of them will take the Bronze.

I think it will come down to performance on the day and skating order.

I hope there'll be a shakeup at 3rd-6th.

If they get nerves under control I think they will.They have momentum and WR now so that should give them great confidence.Unlike last season they virtually recoiled in the presence of V/M this year will be better and also to have been working with a psychologist?

That's unless either team drop out there's rumours :noshake:

I think that the best on the competition will win. That includes both teams keeping it together : P/C cannot choke against V/M like last year (every single time...) ad V/M have to stop making calculations (especially Scott) because they get tensed up.
P/C have yet to perform cleanly with V/M around and V/M have yet to perform a completely clean FD.

Both teams have everything they need to put up monstruous scores. I can't wait !

Regarding competing against V/M

“It will be the first time we are competing against them this season and the last time before the Olympics,” acknowledged Papadakis. “It’s going to be important dealing not so much with the competition but with the pressure of being together, all six couples at the same competition. It’s going to be interesting and a great practice before the Olympics.”

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I prefer both of P/C's programs over V/M. It seems the judges are willing to put them ahead as well (certainly in the LP and overall), if they skate cleanly and with attack. Unless one of the teams clearly stumbles though, the difference will likely come down to level calls. Level calls in Dance are probably the most boring thing in all of skating these days and we see a LOT of boring skating. It's already nearly impossible for a solo viewer to call a footwork sequence level in real time for a singles skater, so then go figure how much more obscure it becomes with an extra body out there on the ice.

I think P/C have the best FD. It is mesmerizing. I am not crazy about their SD because the music choice is not trulynOlympic and the costume is not flattering. I hate the colors. Yes they skate everything well but this SD could have been even sexier and more upbeat with so many better music choices. I think V/M have a much better SD. I like the cuts of music and the choreography. Their tech content appears harder to me but that’s just a very non expert observation. The V/M FD is very good and they are so amazing but I think the ethereal quality of P/C FD if skated like in France could be the program the judges prefer. It should be very close if they both go clean.

One thing obviously is that the Canadian couple have already medaled at two Olympics so the nerves will not be so bad. They are older now and are so confidant. Against D/W they were up against a more athletic couple and Meryl was lightening fast.

I think on the day that judges will be thinking if both are clean and inspired “ do we wish to give gold to this couple and proclaim them the best ice dance team ever to have lived” and their medal haul makes them so. Or do we want to reward this beautiful French team who float over the ice? It is so subjective unless someone stumbles or messes up a twizzle or lift.

But I hope the French win the FD. I honestly hope there are two gold medals awarded. Perhaps thenfrenxh and Russian judges will collude and we can be happy for both a la pairs 2002. I loved that double gold thing as I loved those pairs very much.

This result for stepanova and Bukin beating weaver poje in a surprise must make them try to get better coaches! They have to get a finishing coach! Svinan and zhuk won’t do anything for them! Looking over their history they aren’t good coaches to reach the very top!

gmyers said:

This result for stepanova and Bukin beating weaver poje in a surprise must make them try to get better coaches! They have to get a finishing coach! Svinan and zhuk won’t do anything for them! Looking over their history they aren’t good coaches to reach the very top!

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W/P were both injured, especially as Andrew got hit by the rink board hard during the warm-up in the SP. As the result, Stepanova/Buki's bronze was not at all a surprise for me. W/P did everything that they could deliver in the FS. I feel sad about W/P because their season start looked very promising at first, so I felt they could get back on the track of the Olympic bronze medal contention until the French GP. Although S/B got two Grand Prix bronze medals, they still have a long way to get into the top tier given their current abilities, especially Stapanova's.

Crossover said:

W/P were both injured, especially as Andrew got hit by the rink board hard during the warm-up in the SP. As the result, Stepanova/Buki's bronze was not at all a surprise for me. W/P did everything that they could deliver in the FS. I feel sad about W/P because their season start looked very promising at first, so I felt they could get back on the track of the Olympic bronze medal contention until the French GP. Although S/B got two Grand Prix bronze medals, they still have a long way to get into the top tier given their current abilities, especially Stapanova's.

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Well Stepanova and Bukin aren’t going to make their long way shorter by staying with the same coaches! So the two medals should almost mandate moving to a better coach that can hopefully try to fix all Stepanova’s problems. I totally agree they were totally lucky that w/p were injured and should not have been competing here but s/b took advantage. Some people said they may not even beat g/f so s/b not only beat g/f but w/p too so they must take that as a message to switch coaches! Try to improve Stepanova so she can be at least a Chock! Stepanova main goal is to become a Chock and then try to move to capellini and then keep improving until she hits a higher level. I don’t think her current coaches can turn her into a Chock.