Figure Skating-Cizeron in shock after winning second ice dance gold with new partner

MILAN, Feb 11 : France's Guillaume Cizeron said he was still in shock after reclaiming Olympic ice dance gold in Milan on Wednesday with new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry, less than a year after the pair had teamed up.

Fournier Beaudry, 33, a Canadian‑born skater who received her French citizenship just in time for the Games, joined Cizeron last March in a last‑minute collaboration.

"Oh my God, we're still in shock," Cizeron said. 

"Looking back a year ago when we started dreaming of this, it's pretty incredible what we've been through and the work and the love that we've put into our training and our skating and the support that we've had along the way, we couldn’t be more grateful and proud."

Cizeron, 31, became the first ice dancer to win back‑to‑back Olympic titles with two different partners. In Beijing he won gold with Gabriella Papadakis.

In Milan, the Cizeron-Fournier Beaudry duo scored 225.82 points, finishing just over a point ahead of Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates (224.39) to complete a whirlwind rise from first try‑out to Olympic champions.    

Fournier Beaudry praised Cizeron's steadiness when it mattered most.

"He's the best. And that's what I was telling myself when sometimes I was getting scared," she said. 

"The confidence that he was able to bring to me through the whole season is probably one of the things that made us achieve what we could achieve today," she said. 

Cizeron said heart over perfection tipped the balance against their U.S. rivals.

"We knew we hadn't delivered a perfect performance, but I think our focus tonight was really to skate with our hearts," Cizeron said.

"The pressure is enormous in this kind of competition ... I think we gave the best performance we were capable of tonight.