A very interesting interview this one, though I'm not sure I understood everything as I was trying to decipher the meaning through Google Translate. G&G explain their point of view on the competition, how they deal with pressure, they touch on their connection, and they say it's not just about the Olympics for them but also about the journey. I liked when they stressed that they're trying to make ice dance attract young people - they're such great ambassadors for the sport!
https://www.placegrenet.fr/2017/11/19/gabriella-papadakis-guillaume-cizeron-grenoble/162778
As if I got nothing to do, let me spend another hour translating this one. I love to be in their atmosphere, so I consider this time well spent!
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron: "We are lucky to have found each other"
INTERVIEW - Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron have confirmed that we can count on them to try and win Olympic gold, in South Korea, in three months' time.The French ice dancers have by far dominated the Internationaux de France de Patinage at the Polesud rink, beating their own world record while at it. Saturday November 18th, two hours after their performance, the Clermontois [someone from Clermont-Ferrand], whose alchemy on the ice seems perfect, acknowledged the contribution of the Grenoble audience.
Q: What does this victory in the Internationaux de France, in front of a French audience, mean to you, training in Canada?
Gaby: It's great to come back [to France - editor's note] because we don't have the chance to do so very often. Being in a competition, an event, where we have the whole audience with us makes all the difference and it's really nice!
Guigui: It's really a super-good experience. The audience supported us from start to finish. The organization was very good, the ice also.
[Really no remark about those wonderful plastic star-trophies? Really not??
] We will have really good memories of this competition.
Q: Did these positive vibes help you to transcend yourself so you could improve your world record?
Gaby: We weren't able to work much in between China [October 4th when they set their previous record - editor's note] and Grenoble: only one week. What has made the difference and let us get more points [201.88], I think, is the confidence that we got from earning a very good score in China, but also the motivation to compete in France.
Q: Why did you choose to move to Canada in 2014? [The interviewer clearly didn't do his homework...] Did you feel like having a change? Or was it not possible in France to meet all the conditions needed to get you to the highest level?
Guigui: It's true that there are better conditions in Canada because the sport is more popular, there's more money etc. But it's our coach Romain Haguenauer, with whom we trained since two years in Lyon, who decided to go there to coach with Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. We decided to follow him. We liked the project.
That year, we did our choreography with Marie-France and Patrice. That really fitted well from the start. There grew a sort of chemistry. As a result, we didn't hesitate much. It happened rather easily, quickly, and for the better. Leaving has made us grow, brought us many things, protected us from certain things, allowed us to concentrate on our career.
Q: Passing from a short dance on Ed Sheeran's pop music to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in the free, is it a choice to do such splits?
Guigui: We try to live up to the expectations of the short dance. This is the one that we chose. It's true that it is a huge contrast with the free dance but we don't mind. On the contrary, we like that contrast. We have a lot of fun dancing on the short dance. The free dance is more about poetry, lyricism. They complement each other.
[...]
[They really put that there in the text, as if in fact it's an abridged version of an interview published elsewhere...?] In the short dance, we have to follow the rules a lot
[please correct me if I misunderstood the meaning here], it's a song that's very popular and modern today but all the judges appreciate that choice. I also think this is the direction ice dance is moving into. We try to improve the sport's popularity and to make it a pleasure to watch for young people and for people who may be newbees.
Q: Three months before the Olympics in Pyeongchang, you seem to have the green light all over. What could stop you from getting that gold medal? [Seems they wanted to ask 'who'...
]
Gaby: We'll try not to think of that (laughter). We concentrate mostly on what is going to GET us that gold medal. That is the work, constant improvement.
Q: You have a completely different competition schedule from your main competitors, the Canadians Virtue - Moir. ["Since you didn't take the bait in my last question, I have to bring them up myself - *sigh*"
] Is this just a coincidence or a deliberate choice you or they made to avoid each other?
Gaby: It turned out that we didn't have any competitions together before the final [of the ISU Grand Prix, in Japan, on December 7th-10th - editor's note]. It's good, it allowed us to perform without that particular stress, to gain in self-confidence.
As regards the programmes, we each do what we want and are good at. It's different, but that's what it is.
Q: What would an Olympic title mean to you, the only one missing on your list, at your first OG?
Guigui: It would be a great pride for us. It represents a lot of work. The whole way to get there is also interesting. We don't just do this for the OG, but because we love to train and love what we do.
Sure, there is a lot more attention than in a 'normal' year [with no OG - editor's note]. A lot more people are interested now. There's a lot more media attention. It makes for a bit more pressure. But we try to deal with it as good as we can, and advance step by step.
Q: There is clearly real chemistry between the both of you on the ice. Are you very different outside the rink?
Gaby: We grew up together, it surely helps. We know each other by heart. We are different but also complementary. I think that it gives us a lot on the ice.
Guigui: We have different interests and pasts. But on the ice, we meet as a whole. The experience we live together creates a quite particular connection, and that's also what we transmit. We are lucky to have found each other and live all these experiences together.
Gaby: It's really a very special relationship, a skater relationship. We're always together, we work together. We go through a lot of stress together, and also happiness. That challenge is part of the sport in any case.
Brought to you by Laurent Genin