French duo crowned, Chinese ice dancers make history at Beijing 2022-Xinhua

Victoria Sinitsina, Nikita Katsalapov of ROC, Gabriella Papadakis, Guillaume Cizeron of France and Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue of the United States (from L to R) pose after the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- France's four-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron danced to the gold here on Monday, while Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu ranked 12th to set a new best result for Chinese ice dancers at a Winter Olympics.

Papadakis and Cizeron, the 2018 Olympic silver medalists, re-stated their dominance over this discipline with another new highest score, 136.15 points in the free dance, bringing their overall score to 226.98 for the championship.

Russian Olympic Committee athletes Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, the current world champions and the 2020 and 2022 European champions, settled for the silver with a 131.66-point free dance and 220.51 points overall.

American 2021 world silver medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue took the bronze with a season-best free dance of 130.89 and 218.02 overall.

China's sole ice dance representatives in this Olympic Winter Games, Wang and Liu, scored 111.01 points in the free dance, which added to their rhythm dance score of 73.41 to rank the Chinese pair 12th on 184.42 overall.

Before Wang and Liu's performance on Monday, the country's best result in ice dancing had stood for 30 years when Han Bing and Yang Hui finished 18th at Albertville 1992.

The French duo of Papadakis and Cizeron, who did not compete at last month's European Championships or the 2021 World Championships because of COVID concerns, set a new personal best and world-record score with 90.83 points in Saturday's rhythm dance.

Putting out an excellent performance to Gabriel Faure's Elegy in the free dance, Papadakis and Cizeron earned a level four to the straight line lift, the synchronized twizzles, the combined spin and the curve lift, as well as a level three to the one foot step sequence, the diagonal step sequence and the rotational lift.

"We have been waiting for this," Papadakis said after winning the gold. "We built upon the last Olympics. For years this was the only medal that we wanted, and the past four years were just about that moment."

"We just relied on our trust, and we borrowed the energy of all of our teammates and coaches. It's memories, it's eye contact that I will never forget," Cizeron added.

Wang and Liu came ninth and gave a Chinese-style performance to Kung Fu Piano: Cello Ascends, featuring a level four for the opening combined spin, the synchronized twizzles and the straight line lift-rotational lift, but being deducted one point for an extended lift.

"We have had our best performance so far. We feel that all our endeavors of the past four years paid off," Liu commented.

"It didn't matter whether past circumstances favored us or not. We've finally managed to complete all four programs, not falling short of our supporters' expectations," echoed Wang.

The local favorites, both 27 years old, were also the sole ice dancing couple from Asia to have advanced to the free dance, as 20 out of 23 couples rounded up the qualification and Japan's Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto finished 22nd in the rhythm dance.

"We were the only Asians among the 20 pairs. We haven't reached our limits, and we have the room for further progress," Liu added. ■

Gabriella Papadakis (front) and Guillaume Cizeron of France perform during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Wang Shiyue (top) and Liu Xinyu of China perform during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Wang Shiyue (L) and Liu Xinyu of China perform during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Wang Shiyue (R) and Liu Xinyu of China perform during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ga)

Wang Shiyue (R) and Liu Xinyu of China react after the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Gabriella Papadakis (L) and Guillaume Cizeron of France compete during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

Gabriella Papadakis (front) and Guillaume Cizeron of France compete during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

Gabriella Papadakis (R) and Guillaume Cizeron of France compete during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Cao Can)

Gabriella Papadakis (L) and Guillaume Cizeron of France celebrate during flower ceremony after the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Madison Hubbell (front) and Zachary Donohue of the United States perform during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Victoria Sinitsina (L) and Nikita Katsalapov of ROC celebrate during the flower ceremony after the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Madison Hubbell (R) and Zachary Donohue of the United States perform during the figure skating ice dance free dance match of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Du Yu)