Figure skating-Fournier Beaudry, Cizeron make Olympic statement with sizzling European victory
SHEFFIELD, England, Jan 17 : Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France stamped themselves as Olympic contenders on Saturday, capturing their first European ice dance title with a commanding performance in their final tune-up before the Games.
In their fourth international appearance since teaming up last March, the duo delivered a breathtaking lyrical free dance to the soundtrack from "The Whale" for a season's best score of 135.50 points that left little doubt they will be in the hunt for gold next month.
Fournier Beaudry, a Montreal native who received French citizenship in November, and Cizeron, the reigning Olympic champion with longtime previous partner Gabriella Papadakis, scored 222.43 total points.
"We wanted to do a few changes since the final and it was kind of a quick turnaround," Cizeron said of last month's Grand Prix Final where they finished second to Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
"We didn't have so much time, but we did it anyways, and the goal was to test them here. So we're really pleased with all those changes that we made. It was just a stepping stone towards the Olympics and we're happy to go home and hopefully not change anymore."
Three-time defending champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy, third after the short dance, finished second with 210.34.
Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson had the crowd roaring with their energetic programme to "The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond", "Auld Lang Syne", and The Proclaimers hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".
But they lost precious points with a huge blunder on their twizzles - side-by-side spins that travel across the ice - to fall to third with 209.51.
Cizeron, who won five world titles with Papadakis, made headlines earlier this week when he accused her of spreading false information about him in a "smear campaign."
Papadakis alleged in her book "So as Not to Disappear", released on Thursday, that she was under Cizeron's "control" throughout their career.
Cizeron said in a statement that his lawyers had been instructed to demand an immediate halt to what he called defamatory claims. Papadakis has been removed from her commentary role for NBC Sports at the Olympics due to a conflict of interest.
Earlier on Saturday, Georgia's Nika Egadze delivered the performance of his career, landing four quadruple jumps to run away with the men's title and leave a mistake-ridden field far behind.
The 23-year-old carved through a pressure-packed free skate with remarkable composure, turning what was expected to be a tight showdown into a commanding victory in the final international event for Olympic-bound European skaters ahead of the Milano Cortina Games.
Skating to Sail by Awolnation, he scored 181.72 points and 273.00 overall for Georgia's first European victory in men's singles.
"It was a really hard week for me mentally, because the first days were really shaky, the practices didn't go well," Egadze said.
"Benoit (Richaud, his choreographer) gave me some advice on how to be more calm, more relaxed - don't think about the medal, just think about my skate, to make people happy with my skating. I think we did a really good job."
Matteo Rizzo was second with 256.37 points to secure the second spot on Italy's Olympic team, while Russian-born Georgii Reshtenko of the Czech Republic climbed from eighth after the short program to take third with 238.27 points.
Rizzo was in a battle for the remaining Italian Olympic team spot with Nikolaj Memola, with Daniel Grassl having locked up the country's first spot. Memola, who has been battling injuries, was 11th.
It was a disastrous day for 2022 European silver medallist Grassl, who arrived as the favourite with the top score among the field this season. The Italian fell three times en route to finishing 13th.
Egadze's victory came on the heels of Georgian teammates Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava winning the pairs event earlier in the week.
The coaching teams for both Egadze and the pairs champions include Eteri Tutberidze, who coached Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian skater at the centre of a doping scandal during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
