{"id":9643,"date":"2026-02-28T01:16:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9643"},"modified":"2026-02-28T01:16:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:16:30","slug":"not-just-gold-it-was-an-explosion-on-the-ice-at-milano-cortina-2026-guillaume-cizeron-and-laurence-fournier-beaudry-left-the-audience-breathless-with-their-incredibly-int","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9643","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNOT JUST GOLD \u2014 IT WAS AN EXPLOSION ON THE ICE.\u201d At Milano Cortina 2026, Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry left the audience breathless with their incredibly intense free dance. Each sharp glide, each precise lift was chilling \u2014 but it was their locked gaze and the fragile distance between them that ignited the entire ice rink. Even after the music stopped, they maintained that energy \u2014 a breathtaking conclusion that sent the arena into a frenzy."},"content":{"rendered":"
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French figure skaters Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry won Olympic gold in ice dance on Wednesday, capping a remarkable rise after pairing up just one year ago. The duo topped reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States following the free dance final.<\/p>\n

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\"French<\/p>\n

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French figure skaters Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry pulled off an incredible exploit on Wednesday, winning Olympic gold in\u00a0ice dancing after\u00a0skating\u00a0together for just a year.<\/p>\n

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Cizeron, 31, and 33-year-old Fournier Beaudry, took the title ahead of reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA after the free dance finale.<\/p>\n

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Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took bronze.<\/p>\n

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\"Winter<\/p>\n

For Cizeron it is a second consecutive Olympic\u00a0ice\u00a0dance gold after he won the title at the Beijing Winter Olympics four years ago with Gabriella Papadakis.<\/p>\n

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Cizeron and Papadakis retired from competition following their fifth world title in 2022 and he teamed up last March with his close friend, Fournier Beaudry.<\/p>\n

Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry had taken a slim 0.46-point lead over the Americans going into the free dance finale at the Milano\u00a0Ice\u00a0Skating\u00a0Arena.<\/p>\n

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\"France's
France\u2019s Clement Noel reacts in the finish area after competing in the slalom run of the men\u2019s team combined alpine skiing event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio (Valtellina) on February 9, 2026. \u00a9 AFP \u2013 DIMITAR DILKOFF<\/figcaption>The Americans, who are friends, training partners in Montreal and rivals of the French, presented a fiery flamenco to an orchestral rendition of the Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201cPaint It Black\u201d.<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But\u00a0skating\u00a0last, the French concluded their competition with a mesmerising routine set to the powerful soundtrack of the 2022 film \u201cThe Whale.\u201d<\/p>\n

They finished 1.43 points ahead of the three-time world champions.<\/p>\n

Gilles and Poirier snatched bronze with their Vincent van Gogh tribute to the music of \u201cStarry, Starry Night\u201d, which received huge cheers and pushed Italian couple Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri into fourth place.<\/p>\n

Fournier Beaudry, a Canadian who received French citizenship last November, had been available after the suspension of her former partner, Nikolaj Sorensen, who was implicated in a 2012 sexual abuse case in Canada, which he has denied. Sorensen was in the crowd in Milan.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

On the road to the Games, the French couple experienced a tumultuous season.<\/p>\n

Three weeks before the Games, they found themselves embroiled in controversy when Papadakis published a book that caused a huge stir.<\/p>\n

In it, she harshly criticised her former partner, claiming she had been under his \u201ccontrol\u201d during their time\u00a0skating\u00a0together.<\/p>\n