They are in a second qualification, but will experience their very first Olympic Games this winter. Figure skaters Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen will represent Canada in ice dance in Beijing and, this time, all papers are in order.
Their Olympic cycle began with a year of international suspension. That was the price to pay if they wanted to skate under the Canadian banner after wearing the Danish colors for five seasons.
This transition materialized following the 2017 World Championships. Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen then secured an Olympic qualification place in Denmark for the PyeongChang Games. However, they learned in the following months that these seats could not be reserved for them, since Laurence did not have Danish citizenship.
“We weren’t aware that we could help qualify the country. […] When we saw what we had just done, we were a little surprised, then we realized that we were supposed to be there, that we were good enough [pour les JO] ! We said to each other: ” Now, what can we do to make this dream come true? ” ”Recalls Nikolaj Sorensen. Originally from Copenhagen, the athlete has lived in Montreal since 2010 to train.
“It was like a big awareness,” continues Laurence Fournier-Beaudry, from Montreal. We understood that we had the potential and the capabilities. We had put the Games aside a bit, but seeing all those with whom we trained to prepare for it, we wanted to go too. This is where we tried to find a way for me to obtain citizenship or for an exception to be granted. ”
There was nothing to do. As long as the duo represented the Scandinavian country, they had to put aside their Olympic dream.
After careful consideration, the two skaters took the plunge. They were already training in Montreal and Sorensen had resided in the metropolis for a few years. The logical choice was therefore to join the Canadian team. They were entitled to the agreement and, above all, to the support of the two federations, then they were ready to take the next step.
The transition between the national teams of Denmark and Canada was a difficult decision, but a necessary one.
The operation
The couple, who have teamed up since 2013, served their suspension as scheduled and returned to international competition in 2019. They placed tenth at their fourth World Championships, their first with the Maple Leaf. His momentum was then hampered by injuries.
Victim of a crack in a patella, Laurence fared better than Nikolaj. The latter, who had a more serious meniscus injury in his right knee, was unaware of the seriousness of the problem in the spring of 2019.
He had a few tests, but there was no question of being operated on at the time, at the risk of ruining the season. An injection of cortisone saved her time, at least until the fall, when the pain became unbearable.
“We went through competitions one after another, but after the Skate America short program, I told Laurence that my (right) knee was really hurting. I don’t exactly remember a particular moment when I felt a knock, but at Skate America I noticed it wasn’t going very well. ”
They still skated the free skate the next day and even won the bronze medal at this Grand Prix. Sorensen, who had difficulty walking, took a few days off afterwards. Despite the pain, he and Fournier-Beaudry made it to the Coupe de Chine in November. They were happy to have gone there and “to have pushed to the maximum”, according to Laurence.
But it was “the worst experience of [la] life ”by Sorensen. A nightmare which nevertheless ended on the third step of the podium.
“It was an extremely stressful competition because we hadn’t skated together for more than a week,” explains Laurence Fournier-Beaudry. I had continued to train on my own, but it’s a team sport. He really wasn’t at his peak. He had trouble bending his knees, whereas three quarters of the time, that’s what we do in figure skating! ”
The consultations ensued upon their return to Canada and Nikolaj Sorensen learned that tears in his meniscus would force him to go under the knife, which he did in December 2019. A period of six weeks without putting any weight on his right leg took hold, accompanied by six to nine months of rehabilitation.
At the end of the tunnel
The icing on the sundae? A pandemic, of course.
COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 World Championships which were to take place in Montreal. Nikolaj Sorensen had also tried a hasty return, to finally give up the event reluctantly, for lack of preparation. A week later, all the skaters on the planet had to say goodbye to these worlds.
“It was weird. We weren’t really disappointed like all our friends, because we had already experienced our disappointment a week earlier, ”recalls Sorensen.
Containment, home training, virtual competitions: Nikolaj Sorensen and Laurence Fournier-Beaudry tried to continue their preparation during the pandemic. To make sure they are ready for the Games, for which they have gone to the Canadian camp.
The many tiles that fell on their heads during this Olympic cycle finally served to build a path to Beijing. A path full of obstacles whose destination will have remained the same, from start to finish.