Shape of water & other stories. In focus: French ice dancing at the beginning of the Olympic season

End of august, Masters de Patinage in Villard-de-Lans: the audience in André Ravix ice rink, and the eyes of the skating world see the debut of Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron, who had announced this March they would join hands in partnership and embark upon this new chapter of their competitive career(s).

And what do people see, you ask?

They see a team that’s fully ready and geared up, all poised to take the ice dancing world by storm.

And not next season or next seasons – but now, this season!, which also happens to be an Olympic one, and that makes things even more interesting and challenging for every other ice dance team out there.

What else do people in Villard-de-Lans, at Masters, see? What do we all see?

Some very strong French ice dance teams who are also ready to rise to the challenge: to be the best versions of themselves, while also competing with a team that’s set to shake things up, the current hierarchies and status quo.

How did it go during this first encounter on home soil?

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron won the ice dancing event at Masters by quite a margin, and with a score that would have had them in second place at 2025 Worlds.

219.07 points, versus 193.68 points by European silver medalists Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud and 190.35 points by Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier – Evgeniia & Geoffrey and Loicia & Theo, two of the senior French teams that showed great progress the last couple of seasons and won worldwide appreciation in the process.

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With the comeback of the Olympic champion Guillaume Cizeron in the competitive arena, alongside a partner of such high caliber as Laurence Fournier Beaudry, a team to represent France internationally, things are definitely going to heat up in French ice dancing (and not only), they did already – but you know what?

In this spark, a fire even, we see a chance of growth for everyone, a sense of urgency to become better. To become Faster, Higher, Stronger – as the Olympic motto says.

And that can only be good for French ice dancing, and World ice dancing as a whole.

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That being said, we invite you in a photo-journey at Masters de Patinage this August, highlighting the Top 5 French ice dance teams according to their scores in Villard-de-Lans:

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (219.07 points)
Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (193.68 points)
Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier (190.35 points)
Natacha Lagouge and Arnaud Caffa (177.50 points)
Marie Dupayage and Thomas Nabais (166.41 points)

NEXT: Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier at 2025 Masters de France