Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron broke their own world record in the rhythm dance at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday night, scoring 90.83 points to give the four-time world champs from France a cushion over Russian rivals Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov heading into the free dance. Who Are Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron?
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Who Are Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron?
There’s been a new world record in figure skating’s ice dance rhythm dance event and it belongs to Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France.
The four-time world champions got a standing ovation from onlookers as they scored 90.83 points for their routine, beating their own previous record of 90.03 points.
No medals are up for grabs at this stage with the top 20 couples qualifying for the free dance portion, but it’s an early statement of intent from Papadakis and Cizeron.
The couple are competing in their first full season together in almost two years having taken a break from competition.
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron In Winter Olympics 2022
Sinitsina and Katsalapov, the reigning world champions, scored 88.84 points to stay within striking distance of gold.
Then came the U.S. contingent: Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, who just missed the medals four years ago, scored 87.13 points to their “Rhythm Nation” program while Madison Chock and Evan Bates scored 84.14 points as they try to finally crack the podium in their third Olympics together.
The two American teams are already assured of at least one medal from Beijing after helping take silver in the team event last week. That could eventually be upgraded to gold depending on the outcome of a Russian doping inquiry.
Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, who were late arriving to Beijing and did not take part in the team event, were the first to post a real target for everyone else Saturday night. The Russians scored 84.09, just off their season best set at the European championships, to their pop mashup of The Backstreet Boys, Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber.
The lead lasted through Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson and until Papadakis and Cizeron took the ice.
The four-time world champions showed why they have been nearly unbeatable during the past four years, losing only once, at the 2020 European championships. With sharp edges and crisp turns, Papadakis and Cizeron seemed to float across the ice of the historic Capital Indoor Stadium, finally breaking through what had been some stingy scoring.
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