Olympic ice dancing medalists Gabriella Papadakis of France and Madison Hubbell of the U.S. rehearse their upcoming performance as a same-gender couple, ahead of the Art on Ice gala in Zurich, Switzerland February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
ZURICH (Reuters) - Retired Olympic champions Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis plan to skate together at events in a bid to help pave the way for same-sex pairs to compete officially.
France's Papadakis won gold at the 2022 Beijing Games with male partner Guillaume Cizeron in ice dancing, while American Hubbell won the team event after Russia were stripped of their title in the wake of the Kamila Valieva doping scandal.
Papadakis and Hubbell, who have retired from competitive figure skating, will perform together during the Art on Ice Gala in several cities in Switzerland this month, and hope to help break down a gender stereotype in the sport.
"I see a lot of young women who want to pursue ice dance in a certain way and there's not that many young boys or men who are competing, so there's a limit to how many people right now are participating," Hubbell told Reuters on Wednesday after her rehearsal with Papadakis in Zurich.
The pair, who have been training together in Montreal and have become friends, decided after the Beijing Games that it was time to try something new.
"Until recently it was only men and women that could skate together for ice dance," Papadakis told Reuters.
In October 2022, Skate Canada became the sport's first governing body to allow same-gender pairs to compete at the national level.
"But it's not yet allowed worldwide, and so I think it's just a change that is happening and people want to see it. It's just not a lot of people are ready I guess," Papadakis said.
The pair said it was a slow process but they wanted to use their status in the skating world to allow athletes to perform with a same-gender partner.
"I'm hoping that some very brave individuals are willing to take the leap soon," Hubbell told Reuters.
The pair will perform for the first time on Thursday at the Hallenstadion Arena in Zurich. The show will then move on to Freiburg and Davos.
(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
