Retired French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis had just two words after her former partner Guillaume Cizeron won gold in the free dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Papadakis, 30, skated with Cizeron for years, and the two won Olympic gold together in 2022. Earlier this year, however, Papadakis accused him of being “controlling” and “demanding” in her memoir So as Not to Disappear.
After Cizeron, 31, earned another Olympic free dance gold on Feb. 11 with new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry, Papadakis posted on Instagram a photo of a glass of wine and a pack of cigarettes, writing: “Logging off xxx.”
Cizeron has denied Papadakis’s allegations. In a statement to Reuters, he said he was the target of a “smear campaign” and that he planned to pursue legal action.
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Papadakis has continued to defend her decision to speak publicly, saying she wanted to share her experiences in the sport “because I believe in a sport where young athletes don’t have to endure what I did in order to achieve their dreams.”
“It is however incredibly difficult to make sport safer when survivors’ voices are still being silenced. I had to end my competitive career because I could no longer tolerate abuse. And now, as a result of speaking up about it I’ve lost my job,” she wrote in a Feb. 8 Instagram post. “I don’t single myself out as a victim. I use my experience to highlight a reality: as long as survivors are punished for speaking out, the sport cannot truly change or become safer. As the Winter Olympics unfold, I encourage you to engage critically with the spectacle. Spectators have power, and the way we choose to watch, support, question, or look away helps shape the culture of the sport.”
Papadakis had been hired as an NBC commentator for the Milan Cortina Games, but the network ended the arrangement as her book was released, citing concerns about a potential conflict of interest while Cizeron was competing.
“We respect Gabriella’s right to tell the story of her life and career. At the same time, her new book creates a clear conflict of interest,” NBC said in a statement to The New York Times in January. “Our responsibility is to deliver coverage that our audience can trust to be free of bias — whether actual or perceived — and we regret that is no longer possible given the circumstances.”
In a recent conversation with USA Today Sports’ Christine Brennan, Papadakis said she understands why many survivors don’t come forward.
“I think it’s a bigger societal issue because we often wonder why survivors don’t speak out about abuse and why things don’t change, and this is because it has tremendous negative impact on the survivors’ lives,” she said. “And as long as a society we don’t do anything to change that, things won’t change and ignoring the problems doesn’t make them go away.”
Fournier Beaudry has also faced scrutiny in recent months. She and Cizeron teamed up in March after her boyfriend and former skating partner, Nikolaj Sørensen, was suspended following a sexual assault allegation made by a coach and former skater. He has denied the allegation, according to CBC, and his six-year suspension was overturned in June.
