“I’VE NEVER HEARD: WE CONTINUE. AND I’VE NEVER HEARD: WE STOP”
November 2021, Palavela, the second day of Gran Premio d’Italia.
Gabriella and Guillaume will take the ice in the afternoon, for their Élégie free dance, while we’re at the end of yet another lengthy conversation with Romain Haguenauer.
The final question – with its layers, and everything deriving from it – was, simply, inevitable. And it had a particular starting point: something the skaters themselves attached to the very first description of their free dance this season.
Inextricablement liés, intimement exaltés. Ils dansent leur dernier tango…
This particular line – “they’re dancing their last tango” – made people wonder at the time: is this (only) the story of the dance, the story Gabriella and Guillaume want to portray on the ice? Or do they want to say something else as well, through their choice of words?
“…that it’s the end?”, Romain recognizes the question even before it’s framed.
He shakes his head and answers simply: “I don’t know”.
But have they talked about it?
“About the possibility they finish? No”.
And then he continues with a smile: the reason our interview got delayed a bit was the exact same question, asked by the president of the French Federation, his former student, Nathalie Péchalat.
“Five minutes before we met, I was still with Nathalie, and she asked me the same question, so you’re not the only one interested in this [smiling]. And I will give you the same answer I gave to Nathalie.
We haven’t discussed with Gaby and Guillaume what would happen after this season – we only had this conversation 4 years ago, before PyeongChang, before the season. I remember, we were in Montreal, they had already been World champions [in 2015 and 2016], and I asked them: «OK, you are very young, you have already done a lot – have you ever thought of [finishing]?»
And they said: «No…», and Gabriella told me: «Maybe we could stop… – maybe we could stop, so I could restart studying, we are very young, we’ve won a lot…» That was their answer at the time, but it was not something they had thought about [in advance]”.
A spontaneous answer, four years ago, with Gabriella and Guillaume thinking about it while answering.
“Back then, they didn’t know, and, obviously, they continued – because, first, they didn’t win the Olympics in PyeongChang. Had they won the Olympics, the discussion [about stopping] would have been, maybe, more serious.
Afterwards, we never discussed it – they wanted to continue, they were super young, it was season by season, and even now, it’s not something we discuss. In both ways, you know? I’ve never heard: We continue, and I’ve never heard: We stop.
And I’m fine with that.
I don’t need to know, and I don’t need them to continue. I mean, of course, I would be happy [if they do], but I will be happy too if they stop, and find their way, and do whatever they wanna do after.
I will be totally fine with either decision. I have been teaching them for a long time, and we have done so much together, that, you know, I feel complete”.
A day later – we’re still in November 2021, remember – Gabriella and Guillaume would give us the same answer: they didn’t know yet. Guillaume: “It’s actually hard to make a decision right now, because we don’t know how we will feel after the Games”. Gabriella: “We’re a bit older, and we’re somewhere else in our lives, so we don’t know if we’ll keep skating. We might, we might not…”
LIKE A DOUGH RISING: EXPLORING THE OPTIONS
And this could have been the end of our discussion with the coach, when it comes to Gabriella and Guillaume’s future – except it wasn’t.
Maybe because we kept asking – removing the layers, to reach for the essence, the heart, the very core of their partnership. Or maybe because we imagine ice dancing would lose such a precious part of itself with the potential retirement of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.
Either way, we kept formulating questions. And Romain Haguenauer kept answering.
And Romain’s spontaneous thoughts getting verbalized, answering to our questions and his own questions, the coach exploring the possible options – everything here looks like a dough which rises, and rises, with every little thing added to the conversation.
What is this, you ask, and to what use?
Take it as a preview to a coach-skaters discussion. Which will happen at the end of the season, if it hadn’t happened already after the Games in Beijing.
“I WILL BE HAPPY IF THEY ARE HAPPY – SKATING OR NOT SKATING”
What exactly do we add to the conversation? First of all, this: something the coach said after Gabriella and Guillaume won their first World title, in Shanghai, in 2015, and started a whirlwind.
His words exactly: “I knew-là they had a lot more to give… I knew they could improve a lot”.
That was, remember, after the Mozart season.
What does the coach see now, with so many other programs in between, with Gabriella and Guillaume’s pinnacle, them skating to Gabriel Fauré’s Élégie? Does he still feel there’s room for more?
“Oh, yes, I’m sure they can do more! I don’t say ten times better, but…”
Romain smiles. He’s ready to assess the situation from different pairs of shoes now – those of the coach who’s guided them for many years already, and those of the discipline itself.
“As a coach, of course, you don’t have students like that every day, a talent like that – plus the story we have together, they followed me from France to Montreal, I’m very close to them… And I will be happy if they are happy – skating or not skating.
For the sport, if you ask me how I feel, for ice dance, I think it will be a big loss if they stop. That I agree.
But they have their lives, and maybe their life will still be skating and competing – it’s a possibility.
I know they can – physically they can, they don’t have major injuries, sometimes, it’s Guillaume’s back, but it’s more the stress before competition, not a big injury.
They are healthy, they enjoy training, they love to skate – there is nothing there so I could say: Oh, My God-là, it’s healthier if they stop. Because sometimes it happens.
I think, mentally and physically, they are in a great shape, so there is no reason to really stop – except if they feel completely complete [smiling]. And they say: We don’t want it anymore”.
“OK, WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO…?”
Coach to Gabriella and Guillaume, and one of the head coaches of Ice Academy of Montreal, Romain Haguenauer keeps exploring this particular line of thinking, offering depth, underlying possibilities as they arise.
“I never really had the time to think about it, but if I want them to continue…
Let’s say I want them to continue, absolutely, for the French Federation, for ice dance, because Nathalie, she asked me that question for a reason: of course she wants them to continue.
But even if, let’s say me, I want them to continue, we would have to find another way to feed their hunger to train. Maybe to really sit at a table and say: Ok, what do you wanna do?
You know, continuing in a more professional way: maybe they could be more involved, and skate at the same time, or…
At I.AM [Ice Academy of Montreal] we have a lot of projects in mind, and maybe Gabriella and Guillaume, if they want to, they could find their place in this big ice academy, directly or indirectly.
This is what we are working on at I.AM – it’s really what we do-là, we have the interest to give opportunities to the skaters that we train. We developed a strong connection with people, some very close relationships sometimes, and we exchange a lot of things.
It’s an exchange – it’s not only us giving to our students, but also giving them the possibility, if they want, to continue to work with us on ice. It’s a community, and I think we can help each other. Like we did with Scott [Moir], for example. He has a fresh view, and he also has the experience – and I am sure Gaby and Guillaume would both have a lot to [give] – if they want to, of course.
If, on the other hand, they want to leave the skating world, and come back to France, to their families – it will be totally fine.
But this is a discussion we need to have with them – and we did not [have it]”.