By Chang-Ran Kim and Hritika Sharma
BEIJING (Reuters) – Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron put their Pyeongchang heartbreak behind them as the French pair claimed figure skating ice dance gold with a world record at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.
The figure skating events have been almost completely overshadowed by Russian Kamila Valieva’s positive doping test but the flamboyant French duo shone through the gloom, finishing with a record total of 226.98.
A wardrobe malfunction had cost them the title four years ago in Pyeongchang, leaving them with the silver medal behind Canadian icons Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
But there were no mishaps in a virtually flawless free dance at the Capital Indoor Stadium that earned 136.15 points and brought rival athletes and coaches to their feet in a standing ovation.
Skating to the dramatic piano and cello music of Gabriel Faure’s Elegie, the four-times world champions once again dazzled with their silky, seductive dance.
World champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of the Russian Olympic Committee took the silver with a season’s best score in their free skate for a total of 220.51.
United States pair Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue took the bronze with a total of 218.02.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Hritika Sharma; Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by Robert Birsel/Peter Rutherford)
