Four years after silver in Pyeongchang, the French couple have won the Olympic gold they were aiming for. And that they commented with humor and… stress.
Our special correspondent in Beijing
We felt you moved like never before at the end of your program…
Guillaume Cizeron: Not at all.
Gabriella Papadakis: I don’t see what you are talking about…
Guillaume Cizeron: Stoic.
Gabriella Papadakis: Seriously, it’s pretty indescribable. Time no longer really existed. Before skating, I couldn’t believe we hadn’t skated yet and won. And after skating, I couldn’t believe we had won… Anyway, everything was mixed up and it was a lot of relief to have achieved this performance.
What was the strongest moment of this day?
Guillaume Cizeron: Oh my god… It’s like being in an emotional washing machine. There are so many little moments that I try to anchor in my memory to remember. I think there are a lot of looks with our coaches, a lot of looks between us. It’s a sum of microseconds that really meant a lot.
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It’s rare to see you express your feelings so clearly…
Guillaume Cizeron: However, I restrained myself from screaming, I don’t understand (smile). We’ve been dreaming of this moment for four years or more. The fact that this is happening…I really don’t have words to explain. Four years ago, we knew we were capable of it, that it was our goal, but we hadn’t succeeded. This time, we just wanted it to happen.
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You were world and European champions very young…
Guillaume Cizeron: Wait, I’ll stop you, we’re still young (laughs).
I grant you. And all you needed was that Olympic title…
Gabriella Papadakis: Yes, for sure this gold medal had a lot of weight, much more than four years ago. This medal is the symbol of something much stronger than four years ago. It’s the symbol of what we’ve been through in the past four years, of all the work we’ve done too, of our entire career. It’s amazing how much weight she actually has.
I think four years ago we didn’t have the courage to assume that we wanted to win.
Guillaume Cizeron
Over time, your trainer, Romain Haguenauer, told us that you had become more and more competitive, and a little less artistic. You confirm ?
Guillaume Cizeron: It is certain that we have a competitive soul. We like to surpass ourselves, competition gives us the energy to surpass ourselves. I think at first we were winning without necessarily wanting to. It was a bit like that: “oh, we won!” It takes a lot more courage, and it’s also scarier, to want to win and to work for it, taking the risk of being disappointed. I think four years ago we didn’t have the courage to assume we wanted to win and we weren’t ready to risk losing. But in the last four years, we have really outdone ourselves psychologically in really working for a specific goal: to be Olympic champions. And four years playing out over seven minutes, there’s nothing scarier.
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Does this give pride in oneself, and in the other, commensurate with the risk taken?
Gabriella Papadakis: Yes, I think I really realize that about these Games, more than ever. I have never been so stressed in my entire life. As Guillaume says, those seven minutes were so important, There were so many sacrifices behind, so many risks…
You talk about stress. How do you ignore it once on the ice?
Guillaume Cizeron: It was truly a spiritual journey (smile). I think I was much more stressed for the short program. And honestly, I hadn’t felt that before. I felt like vomiting.
Gabriella Papadakis: I thought I was going to faint. Truly. In my entire career, I had never felt that.
Guillaume Cizeron: Afterwards, we have been doing this for 17 years, so we still have the baggage to rely on. We know we can be confident in our work in training. We can also rely on each other, on the energy of our coaches, on our music. I still think it’s not just me, just us, there’s a whole team behind it. But honestly, it really is a mental battle. You just have to believe that it’s going to be okay. In fact, it is a matter of faith.
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