(Beijing) In the hours leading up to rhythm dancing at the Beijing Olympics, Marie-France Dubreuil could feel the familiar jitters before a competition.
Posted at 12:19 p.m.
It has been 15 years since she and her husband Patrice Lauzon skated competitively.
But the Canadians, who won back-to-back world silver medals and five national titles before retiring in 2007, were perhaps the busiest people at the capital’s Palais Omnisport during the ice dancing events. .
Dubreuil and Lauzon have coached 10 of the 23 ice dance teams competing at the Montreal Ice Academy, including new French Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.
Were they as nervous behind the boards as they were on the ice?
“It’s funny because Patrice asked me that in the car today,” Dubreuil said after the rhythm dance on Saturday. I think our bodies remember the routine of a competition day. And my body wants to be nervous. »
Lauzon pointed out that it’s a different type of nervousness.
“When I was skating, I was very aware of signs from my body,” he explained. Am I feeling fine, tired, how are my legs? And as a coach, it doesn’t really matter.
“Today I was very stressed, but it’s not at the same level at all. And actually having that many teams, I guess, makes it easier. Because everything is going fast, you are more nervous for the first team, then you are caught in the whirlwind of the moment. »
recipe for success
Dubreuil, Lauzon and former French skater Romain Haguenauer co-founded the academy in 2014. They had a team at the Sochi Olympics that year. They led four teams four years later in PyeongChang, including Canadian Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
Have they ever dreamed of 10?
“No,” Lauzon replies with a laugh. It went quite quickly. »
Moir, meanwhile, was hired a year ago as the head coach of a satellite ice academy in southern Ontario.
Among the other teams based in Montreal: Olympic bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, their American teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the Spaniards Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz, the Chinese Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, and the Canadians Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen, who finished ninth on Monday.
Dubreuil and Lauzon believe that the success of their program lies in the holistic, fun and safe training environment that they constantly strive for.
“We take care of the human being more than anything else,” added Lauzon. I think that’s what attracts people. »
There certainly wasn’t a sense of fierce competition between the teams in Beijing. Instead, we witnessed plenty of warm hugs and congratulations after leaving the ice.
Fournier Beaudry noticed that sitting in the locker room, lacing up her skates before going on the ice, she was surrounded by her fellow trainers in Montreal. It helped ease the jitters of his Olympic debut.
“We’re all in the room stressing and breathing together,” she said.
Emulation
As for what makes so many ice dancers in the same program unique in figure skating, Soerensen compared it to any other team environment. He cited as an example the Canadian short track speed skating team which trains in Montreal.
“They train side by side every day, it’s competition all day, they push each other and that’s why people get better,” he said. So to be able to recreate that in ice dancing is something we are extremely grateful for. »
When Virtue and Moir made their return to competition in 2016, they moved to Montreal to train with Dubreuil and Lauzon, instead of returning to Michigan with their former coach, Marina Zoueva. Virtue and Moir praised Dubreuil and Lauzon for their holistic approach after winning gold in PyeongChang, becoming the most decorated ice dancers in Olympic history.
Skaters in Beijing echoed those comments.
“It’s not tangible,” Soerensen said. It’s hard to put your finger on it. The energy that Marie and Patrice put in place from the start at the arena, there’s just no room for bullshit. It’s an energy, it’s a vibe, where people know there’s no place for bad competition on the ice.
“The coaches did a great job of keeping us all in a positive frame of mind. »
Cizeron noted that the group is a “community”.
“We are all very good friends,” he said.
This is certainly not the first time that a coach has had skaters from more than one country at the Olympics. Canadian coach Brian Orser, for example, had athletes from multiple countries at once and would hastily change coats from team to team between skaters.
Dubreuil, 47, and Lauzon, 46, chose to remain neutral. Both wore chic black coats.
None of the skaters said they felt aggrieved by their coaches’ shared allegiances.
It is rather the reverse.
“Our coaches are extremely professional. They know how to share their attention equally, mentioned Soerensen. And so you never feel alone. You don’t feel like there are too many of you. On the contrary, it’s like going to a party with all your friends and it’s just having a good time. »