Four-time world champions Papadakis and Cizeron look for golden redemption

The ice dancers are set to take centre ice over the coming days at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The rhythm dance kicks off competition on Saturday (12 February) inside the Capital Indoor Stadium with the free dance set for Monday (14 February).

Four-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron will look to go one step up on the podium, following their silver medal finish at PyeongChang 2018.

But a bevy of veterans feature in the dance, including the reigning world champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of the ROC, who captured the 2021 world title in the absence of the French duo.

Citing limited training conditions and difficulty traveling, Papadakis and Cizeron have limited their competition schedule since the outset of the global pandemic. They did, however, win both their Grand Prix events this season - while also registering the highest score of any team.

Other teams to watch include two American duos: Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, who were fourth in 2018; and the reigning U.S. champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are reigning world medallists, and Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri are consistent medallists on the Grand Prix circuit, as well.

Ice dance is the most nuanced of the four disciplines - not to be confused with pair skating.

Watch for speed, distance between skaters, musicality and - simply - a program that makes you sit back and go, "Wow." The skaters do not do jumps or throws, but there are intricate lifts and ice dance's signature move, twizzles, which are a series of side-by-side turns in which the dancers rotate quickly and in unison.

Papadakis and Cizeron have been known over the last seven years for