Stepanova and Bukin: “We really love him, absolutely sincerely. We have great respect for Guillaume and the work he does, no matter who his partner is. He’s amazing. Awesome!”

Russian ice dance duo Aleksandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin shared their thoughts on the return of French skater Guillaume Cizeron with his new partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry.

source: Sport24

Russian ice dancers Aleksandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin praised Guillaume Cizeron’s return with a new partner and shared their views on acrobatic elements in ice dance, emphasizing that success depends on each team’s unique strengths. Here’s a translation of their comments.

“Aleksandra Stepanova: We really love him, absolutely sincerely – we’ve been competing at the same events since juniors. For us, he’s an incredibly talented athlete.

Ivan Bukin: I completely agree. Honestly, I’m thrilled with how he and Laurence performed. I have great respect for Guillaume and the work he does, no matter who his partner is. He’s amazing. Awesome! There’s no point in arguing. It’s very cool that there was a time when we competed on the same ice as him. It was wonderful.

We follow the international scene very closely. These are the people we used to compete against. At one point, we were just tenths of a point behind Chock/Bates at the Olympics, and now we can’t even compete at the same events as them.”

Stepanova and Bukin also commented on acrobatic elements in ice dance.

“Q: They say the younger the athletes, the more acrobatic elements they include. Do you agree?

Ivan Bukin: I don’t agree with that statement.

Aleksandra Stepanova: It depends on proportions.

Ivan Bukin: There are experienced dance teams that do complex acrobatics. If you look closely, Chock/Bates – they do acrobatic lifts.

Aleksandr Stepanova: They’re tall, and he lifts her almost to his chin. It’s not about the athletes’ age, but their proportions – like Chock/Bates, where the woman is much shorter than her partner, or our young pair Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Maxim Nekrasov, who also have a significant height difference. They can do such memorable elements. If acrobatics are inserted correctly and musically into the program, it looks very good and interesting. To each their own – Guillaume Cizeron won the Olympics not because of difficult acrobatics. Everyone does what they can.”

Related topics: Alexandra Stepanova Ivan Bukin, Guillaume Cizeron, Laurence Fournier Beaudry