Late Tuesday afternoon, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon made the shortest journey of their lives to practice their job as coaches at the World Figure Skating Championships: five kilometers between their residence in LaSalle and the center -city of Montreal.
Before packing their bags, Dubreuil warned the grandparents and friends who will take care of their 13-year-old daughter: “We’re not far, but pretend we’re in another country! »
Because the founders of the Montreal Ice Academy, I.AM for short, will once again be busy like ministers during the dance competition, scheduled for Friday (rhythmic) and Saturday (free).
Among the 36 registered duos, a third are part of their stable, 13 if we add the one who trains with their former protégés Scott Moir and Madison Hubbell at the “London campus”, in Ontario, open in 2021 during the pandemic .
Obviously, the skater who has been most talked about in recent weeks is Quebecer Nikolaj Sørensen. The latter was the subject of allegations of sexual assault from a former skater who is now an American coach.
In a statement to the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner (BCIS), released by the USA Today in early January, she claimed that Sørensen had raped her during a party in Hartford in 2012. BCIS is conducting a confidential investigation into the alleged incident, for which the native Dane has never been charged in a court of law.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Nikolaj Sørensen and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry
Sørensen and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry, who is also his wife, reacted publicly for the first time two weeks ago on the sidelines of a Canadian team training at the Bell Centre. He reiterated his innocence, believing he was participating in the World Championships as of right.
“These are allegations that left no one indifferent,” Marie-France Dubreuil commented by telephone on Tuesday. It turned a lot of lives upside down. Nik continues to follow the investigation process and adheres to the letter [ce qui lui est demandé]. It is not our place to judge or discriminate. For him, for Laurence, for everyone, it was a big shock. »
Silver medalists at the Four Continents Championships at the end of January, will Sørensen, 35, and Fournier Beaudry, 33, be able to deliver performances that match their potential?
“That’s a very good question,” Dubreuil replied. This is where we will see if their physical and mental training is up to the challenge they have to face. »
More than half of the finalists?
For the 2020 World Championships, canceled in a hurry due to the pandemic, the Dubreuil-Lauzon duo approached the event with the title holders, the French Papadakis-Cizeron, and the bronze medalists, the Americans Hubbell-Donohue.
“We still find ourselves halfway through an Olympic cycle, but four years later,” noted the Quebecer. There has been a rotation, but we are still in a good position. »
Indeed, with their French colleague Romain Haguenauer, Dubreuil and Lauzon can count on the gold medalists of the previous Worlds, the Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and the British Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, fourth in Japan in 2023, just behind Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who train in Ontario.
In addition to Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen, Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha form the other Canadian pair coached by Dubreuil and Lauzon.
In the eyes of Marie-France Dubreuil, all the dancers mentioned above can slip into the top five. “But it doesn’t matter in the short program. If everyone skates extremely well, everyone passes, but the slightest mistake is heavily penalized in the short program. »
In the circumstances, the former Olympic athlete believes that it would take “a miracle” for the 13 dance duos of I.AM to access the free choreography, reserved for the first 20. “What pleases me the most are personal or season best scores achieved at the World Championships. »
In the background, Lauzon was more ambitious, wanting “more than half” of the participants in the free program to be associated with their school. “If it’s not that, it’s a disaster!” “, he decided.
“Okay, Patch is on fire!” “, said his partner with a smile, who only had to find transportation for her daughter for her “dance, theater and musical theater” classes. However, she will be on hand to attend the program which will undoubtedly bear the signature of her parents.