French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis, Olympic champion and multiple-time world and European titleholder, has publicly shared the personal challenges that led to the end of her competitive career. Despite an accomplished partnership with Guillaume Cizeron that spanned nearly two decades, Papadakis reveals in her new memoir, Pour Ne Pas Disparaître (So as Not to Disappear), that her departure from the sport was not voluntary but forced by the dynamics of their relationship.
Following their gold medal win at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Papadakis accompanied her father to a church in Greece, where a promise had been made to light a candle in celebration of her victory. When asked about her future goals, she expressed an unexpected desire “to be happy,” a statement that, in hindsight, signaled the difficult period ahead.
Papadakis and Cizeron began skating together as children in Clermont-Ferrand, France, later moving their training to Lyon and eventually joining the Ice Academy of Montreal. Their partnership yielded an impressive record that included Olympic silver in 2018, seven French national championships, five European championships, and five world titles.
Despite discussions of a potential comeback for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Papadakis was eventually pushed out of her competitive role. She describes the increasing control and restrictions imposed by Cizeron prior to their Olympic victory, including limitations on her training activities, appearance, and competitive choices. Papadakis experienced significant emotional strain, culminating in psychogenic non-epileptic seizures after the 2022 Games, which doctors attributed to stress.
Their split in December 2024 was publicly framed as a joint retirement. However, Papadakis states that she did not choose to retire voluntarily but was effectively forced out, citing her personal safety and well-being. She expressed difficulty imagining a future without Cizeron, questioning how she would find a new partner or sustain herself financially without skating.
Her memoir explores themes of systemic issues within ice dance, including entrenched gender roles. The sport’s traditional requirement of mixed-gender teams and established roles—where the male partner leads and the female follows—further complicate the pressures female skaters face. Papadakis also addresses the emotional toll of feeling as though her body was treated as an extension of her partner’s rather than her own.
The memoir emerged from notebooks Papadakis began filling a year after the Beijing Olympics, eventually attracting interest from a publisher. She emphasizes that the book aims to shed light on the systemic nature of abuse in the sport rather than focus solely on her personal experience.
The release of the memoir was met with a cease-and-desist letter from Cizeron, who denied the allegations and accused Papadakis of a campaign to smear his reputation. Following this, NBC withdrew Papadakis from her commentator role at the Milano Cortina Olympics, citing concerns over impartiality.
Currently based in London, Papadakis reflects on her journey through the support of literature and mythology, which helped her cope with her experiences. She continues to advocate for change in ice dance and has shifted her career focus following her departure from competition. Papadakis’s story highlights the complexities behind the scenes of elite figure skating partnerships and raises awareness of the need for reforms within the sport.
