Why French Ice Dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Are at the Center of Olympic Controversy

NEED TO KNOW

• Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron partnered to compete in ice dancing at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics 
• Their partnership followed sexual assault allegations against Fournier Beaudry's former partner and boyfriend, Nikolaj Sorensen, which he has denied
• Cizeron was also accused of being "controlling" and "demanding" by his former partner, Gabriella Papadakis, after they went their separate ways in 2022

French ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron have become one of the most talked-about duos at the 2026 Winter Olympics — but not without some controversy.

They announced their partnership in a March 2025 Instagram post that sent waves through the professional skating world less than a year before the Games. However, their collaboration was also met with scrutiny due to fallout from their previous partnerships.

Fournier Beaudry's boyfriend and former ice dance teammate, Nikolaj Sorensen, was suspended from the sport in 2024 after he was accused of a 2012 sexual assault of a former skater and coach. Though his initial six-year suspension was eventually overturned, Fournier Beaudry shared in Netflix's docuseries Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing that it ended his career.

Two years after Cizeron and his longtime partner Gabriella Papadakis — with whom he won the gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics — ended their professional relationship, she accused him of being "controlling" and "demanding" in her 2026 memoir So as Not to Disappear. He called her claims a "smear campaign" in a statement to Reuters and said that he was pursuing legal action.

"We started a new chapter a year ago," Cizeron told reporters via Reuters at the Olympics in February 2026, of being at the Games with Fournier Beaudry. "Neither of us would have thought we'd be here today, so everything is like a bonus for us."

So what is the French ice dancers controversy? Here's everything to know about the drama surrounding Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.

They teamed up after Fournier Beaudry’s former partner was accused of sexual assault 

A year before she started skating with Cizeron, Fournier Beaudry's partner was accused of sexual assault. According to Reuters, Sorensen was investigated by Canada's Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner for an alleged 2012 incident involving an American figure skating coach and former skater.

He denied the allegations and was suspended for six years in 2024. However, that ruling was later overturned by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, citing jurisdictional grounds.

Sorensen's alleged victim condemned the French duo for how they've handled the allegations in a statement sent to sports reporter Christine Brennan, as she shared on X in February 2026.

"The comments by the French team in the press and on a Netflix documentary create a dangerous environment for skaters who need to report abuse," the statement read. "The comments of the reigning Olympic champion and a team in contention for the upcoming Olympic title carry weight, and using their voices to publicly undermine a survivor's truths further enforces the culture of silence in figure skating."

When Brennan later asked Fournier Beaudry what she thought about the remarks, the skater said she and Cizeron "have no thoughts" and are "focused on the Olympics," per a post the reporter shared on X.

Fournier Beaudry said she was “collateral damage” after the allegations came out 

During an episode of Glitter & Gold, the Canadian skater opened up about the aftermath of her boyfriend's sexual assault allegations and how she felt like "collateral damage." She and Sorensen had planned to go to the 2026 Olympics together.

"I never really publicly discuss about how much damage it's created," Fournier Beaudry said in the docuseries. "I don't even want to go back to what I've felt in those moments because I thought I was so strong, and I really thought I could handle everything."

She continued, "When they decided to suspend him, it meant that his career was over, which also meant that my career was over. This was extremely difficult because it was not only about skating, it was about my integrity, it was about his integrity. I know my boyfriend 100 percent. I know him. And we [stood] strong together."

Cizeron’s former partner called him “controlling” in her 2026 memoir 

On Jan. 15, Papadakis released her memoir So as Not to Disappear, in which she detailed the "unbalanced relationship" she allegedly had with her longtime partner. The Olympic duo announced in June 2022 that they were taking a break and retired two years later, per Reuters.

The former skater wrote that she felt under her partner's "control" and that she was "terrified" at the idea of being alone with him.

"I may have been under a kind of control and experiencing things that were not acceptable, but in fact, that relationship reflects the system," Papadakis told Agence France-Presse in January 2026. "It's not unique, it's very common. There are still plenty of people living it today."

Cizeron responded to Papadakis' claims in a statement, calling them defamatory and a "smear campaign."

"I want to express my incomprehension and disagreement with the labels attributed to me," the skater said. "The book contains false information, including statements I never made, which I consider serious."

He continued, "For more than 20 years, I have shown deep respect for Gabriella Papadakis. Despite the gradual erosion of our bond, our relationship was built on equal collaboration and marked by success and mutual support."

Retired skater Adam Rippon claimed Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron had “sinister energy”

In Glitter & Gold, retired U.S. skater Adam Rippon said there was "some sinister energy around the partnership" between Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry.

"Laurence's boyfriend, ex-partner is banned from the sport, and Guillaume's former partner is saying that she didn't leave on her own terms," the Olympic bronze medalist said in the docuseries. "So I don't know if it's necessarily a story a lot of people are gonna root for at first."

"We've been very focused on having a lot of fun on the ice and bringing as much gratefulness as we can to our skating," Cizeron told reporters in February 2026, per Reuters, when asked how he felt about being portrayed as the villain in the Netflix docuseries. "We love skating, and we love skating together, and this is what we're focusing on."

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