OCTOBER 2019 IFSMAGAZINE.COM 9record for World and European ice dance
titles with six of each.
The opportunity is there for Papadakis
and Cizeron to surpass both of those
standards by 2022 (they could be seven-
time European champions a year sooner
by winning the next two).
Though Papadakis and Cizeron are aware
of such things, they admit to only thinking
about it when someone asks. That being
said, winning titles and being the best in
the world is the end goal behind everything
they do, and they remain as enthused as ever
each time it happens.
“We love working, we love doing
choreography and making things perfect
and stuff like that. But you don’t want to do
that for nothing,” said Papadakis. “We have
this opportunity to win competitions and
it’s the goal, right? It’s realistic, so we just
go for it and we don’t question it too much.
“Just because we’ve won Worlds that
many times doesn’t mean that it gets easier.
It’s as hard now as it was the first time.
Every year, there are good competitors
and it’s also a battle with yourself, with the
pressure in your head.
“It’s always a challenge for differentreasons every time, and it’s always a
big challenge.”
Cizeron suggests that winning all these
titles has never been easy, just that the
expectation level has changed, and the
challenge is always there in some form.
“It’s a different kind of stress now,” he said.
“There’s the stress where you’re new and
really don’t know what you’re doing, which
is terrifying. And then there’s a stress where
you kind of know what you’re doing, and
you’re just really focused on doing a good
performance and you know what you should
be focused on.
“There’s still pressure because it’s a
competition, and there’s the audience and
that moment is a lot of pressure. But I feel
like with experience, it’s a different kind of
stress ... a little less anxiety.”
Beijing figures to take all of that to another
level, in what could be a crowning moment
to end their careers. But Haguenauer, for
one, is not convinced that will be the finish
line. After all, Papadakis and Cizeron will
only be 27 in 2022, and still in the prime
of their careers.
“It’s maybe not the last goal they are going
to have, to win the next Olympics. Nothing,
of course, is decided, but everything is open
after that. It’s not automatically the end of
their career,” said Haguenauer, who believes
they could have another cycle in them.
“I can definitely see them doing two more
Olympics. I don’t know if they will do it.”
Papadakis and Cizeron, however, will not
go so far — at least not yet. They prefer to
enjoy the creative journey they will take
between now and Beijing, and the decision
about what comes next after that ... that is
for another day.
“We’ll do the next one and then we’ll see.
It’s hard to know now,” said Papadakis. “We
weren’t even sure we wanted to keep going
after PyeongChang. Maybe four years ago, I
wanted to do PyeongChang and then retire.
But then we did those Olympics, and it was
obvious to us we had another Olympic cycle
in us — we weren’t ready to retire, so we are
going for another.
“But it’s kind of impossible to know
beforehand. Some people are so tired that
they won’t last another couple of years.
“So, I don’t know — I have other things I
want to do with my life, too. We’ll see after
the next Olympics.”
Papadakis and Cizeron will open their
season at French Masters in September,
followed by Grand Prix events in France
and Japan. IFS2019 World Championships