France’s ice dance champions locked in public feud ahead of Winter Olympics

With this year’s Winter Olympics only weeks away, organizers, athletes and international media are preparing to travel to northern Italy. Against this backdrop, a public dispute involving France’s Olympic figure skating team has emerged at an awkward moment, drawing unwanted attention to the country’s athletes in the run-up to the Milano Cortina Games 2026.

France’s 2022 Olympic ice dance champions, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, have become embroiled in a highly public feud that has spilled into the legal arena and reportedly cost one of them a role as a television commentator for the upcoming Winter Games, as multiple French outlets report.

Papadakis released a book on January 15 in which she addresses what she describes as the darker realities of elite figure skating, including allegations that her long-time skating partner was abusive and emotionally controlling. The two began skating together as children and went on to become one of the most decorated ice dance duos in history, winning five World Championship titles, Olympic gold in Beijing and silver at the PyeongChang Games four years earlier.

In excerpts published by French media ahead of the book’s release, Papadakis describes an “unbalanced” relationship in which she felt “under his grip,” accusing Cizeron of being “controlling” and “demanding.” In her book Pour ne pas Disparaitre (“So as not to Disappear”), she argues that her experience reflects broader, systemic issues within the figure skating world, portraying her former partnership as emblematic of a deeply flawed system.

Cizeron has rejected the allegations and accused Papadakis of engaging in a “smear campaign.” He said the book includes claims he never made and asserted that the accusations were serious enough for him to instruct his lawyers to seek an immediate halt to what he described as false statements.

Speaking to French reporters on January 16, Papadakis said she had been removed from her role as a commentator for NBC’s coverage of the upcoming Games, which she attributes directly to Cizeron’s legal actions. “For people who speak out against systems of oppression, it never goes very well,” Papadakis stated.

She also denied suggestions that the book’s release was deliberately timed to coincide with Cizeron’s return to Olympic competition. Papadakis acknowledged that such an interpretation was understandable from the outside, but explained that the publication date had been set well before the announcement of his comeback. “But the publication date was already planned before the announcement of his return [with his new skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry],” she said.

Fournier Beaudry, who previously competed for Canada, recently obtained French citizenship, clearing the way for the pair to represent France at the Olympics. They are expected to be among the leading contenders at the upcoming Winter Games.

By Nazrin Sadigova