パパダキスさんとハベルさん、同性コンビで新境地開拓 アイスダンス

【チューリヒＡＦＰ＝時事】フィギュアスケート・アイスダンスで五輪金メダルを獲得した元選手のガブリエラ・パパダキスさん（フランス）とマディソン・ハベルさん（米国）が６日、スイス・チューリヒで行われたアイスショーで同性コンビとして滑った。（写真は１９－２０フィギュアスケートグランプリ〈ＧＰ〉ファイナルで、アイスダンスの表彰式に臨む優勝したギヨーム・シゼロンとガブリエラ・パパダキス〈左２〉、２位のマディソン・ハベル〈右２〉とザカリー・ダナヒュー）
　二人は今月、「アート・オン・アイス」と呼ばれるショーでスイスの複数都市を周る。
　ハベルさんはＡＦＰの取材で、「スポーツ界は芸術の世界よりも保守的になりがちで、アイスダンスはそのギャップを埋める役割を果たしている」「限界を押し上げることに挑戦し、『なぜできないのか』と思う人が増えてくれたらうれしい」と語った。
　二人は現役時代は長年ライバル同士だったが、カナダ・モントリオールのアイスアカデミーで一緒に練習していた。
　２０２２年にはスケート・カナダが国内レベルで同性ペアの競技を承認した初の統括団体となっており、パパダキスさんとハベルさんはこうした動きがさらに広まることを望んでいる。
　パパダキスさんは、「国際的にも国内的にも各団体で変化を実現しようとしている人がたくさんいて、自分たちもその一助になりたかった」と語った。
　二人はまた、自分たちの存在が、同性カップルが競技キャリアを追求する後押しになることを望んでいる。
　現在はカナダでコーチを務めるハベルさんは、「それが自分の夢かもしれない」「さらに関心があるのは、これを実際のルールにどう適合させるかということ」だとしている。
　パパダキスさんはギヨーム・シゼロンさんとのカップルで２０１８年の平昌冬季五輪で銀メダル、２０２２年の北京五輪で金メダルを獲得。世界選手権でも５度のタイトルを獲得し、昨年末に現役を引退した。
　ハベルさんはザカリー・ダナヒューさんとのコンビで、北京五輪の団体で金メダル、アイスダンスで銅メダルを獲得し、世界選手権では３度準優勝している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/02/07-19:34）

Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Madison Hubbell on Thursday took to the ice at a figure skating gala in Zurich trying to push the limit of the sport as a first same-sex couple to skate together.
The sport world can be more conservative than let's say the art world and ice dance kind of bridges that gap, 33-year-old Hubbell told AFP.
So I'm excited that there are more and more people who want to push the limit and ask the question of why not?
Frenchwoman Papadakis and American Hubbell are performing together at the Art on Ice Gala which takes place in several cities in Switzerland in February.
The two women, rivals for many years competitively, trained alongside each other at the Ice Academy in Montreal, Canada.
We were also friends and one day at training, we skated a bit together, a bit for laughs at first, for fun and then actually, we realised that it was quite cool and that it was quite enjoyable and we said to ourselves, when we're finished with our competitive career, we'll try for real, said Papadakis.
Papadakis explained that after the Olympic Games, the pair made videos skating together and one thing led to another.
The producers of Art on Ice contacted us asking if we would potentially be interested in putting on a show for them and that's it, here we are.
In 2022, Skate Canada became the first governing body in the sport to allow same-sex duos to compete at the national level.
And Papadakis and Hubbell would like this to be extended.
There are a lot of people trying to make this change happen in international, national bodies, and we wanted to bring our little stone to the building too, said Papadakis.
It wasn't our basic intention but we realise what it can represent, what it can show, for us, it's something that is close to our hearts too.
I also realised while skating with Madison, is that there were codes that I had never really questioned all my life.
The couple said they also wanted their status in the skating world to inspire same-sex couples to pursue a competitive career.
That would maybe be my dream in this next step of the journey, said Hubbell, who now works as a figure skating coach in Canada.
What I'm more curious about is how do we make this all fit into the actual competitive rules of skating.
A lot of people said right away when the conversation started that two men would have an advantage because they'd be better at lifts.
While that might be true, initially, I actually would be interested to see because lifting is a skill much like anything else and if women were taught as young girls to start lifting just like you see in circus or other art forms I think you would find that people are all capable and I don't know that there would be such a clear advantage, disadvantage as what maybe initially comes to mind.
Papadakis and ice dancing partner Guillaume Cizeron retired late last year after a trophy-laden career. They won five world titles and Olympic gold in Beijing 2022, having taken silver at the PyeongChang Games four years earlier.
Hubbell and partner Zachary Donohue won Olympic team gold with the United States and ice dancing bronze together in Beijing, and were three-time world silver medallists.