Marie-France Dubreuil was born on August 11, 1974, in Montreal, Quebec.[1] She married her Canadian partner and skater Patrice Lauzon in August 2008.[2] On December 24, 2010, she gave birth to their daughter, Billie-Rose.[3]
Competitive career
Dubreuil with Lauzon
When Dubreuil was five, she asked for skating lessons for her birthday and her grandmother gave her skates as a present.[4][5] She took up ice dancing at the age of ten.[5] The pair of Ekaterina Gordeeva / Sergei Grinkov was one of her influences.[6] Competing with Bruno Yvars, she won the bronze medal at 1990 World Junior Championships.[5]
Dubreuil teamed up with Patrice Lauzon in 1995 and they placed 6th at their first Canadian Championships. They took the silver medal in their first appearance at Four Continents in 2000. Their coaches were Sylvie Fullum and François Vallee, who retired after the 2001–02 season. Dubreuil/Lauzon decided to move permanently to Lyon, France, to train under Muriel Boucher-Zazoui.[7]
Dubreuil/Lauzon captured the gold medal at the Canadian National Championships five times and competed at the Winter Olympics twice. They had to withdraw from the 2006 Winter Olympics after Dubreuil suffered an injury from a fall during a lift attempt at the end of a program. Lauzon had to carry her off the ice.[8] They recovered to win the silver medal at the 2006 World Championships in Calgary, Alberta.
Dubreuil/Lauzon skated in ice shows in the 2007–08 season. They confirmed their retirement from competitive skating on May 20, 2008.[9]
Dubreuil appeared on the CBC Television series Battle of the Blades, in which figure skaters are paired with ice hockey players in a figure skating competition. She and her season 1 partner Stéphane Richer finished in third place. She took season 2 off because she was pregnant. During the show's third season, she was paired with Bryan Berard.[10]
Dubreuil and Lauzon coach and choreograph ice dancing at Ice Academy of Montreal with Romain Haguenauer.[11] Their current students include:
Madison Chock / Evan Bates[12] (Olympic gold medalists (team event), Two-Time World Champions, Three-time Four Continents Champions, Four-time U.S. National Champions)
Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue[35](2022 Olympic champions (team event), 2022 Olympic bronze medalists, Four Continents Champions, Grand Prix Final Champions, U.S. National Champions)
Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir[47] (Three-time Olympic gold medalists, Two-time Olympic silver medalists, Three-time World Champions, Grand Prix Final Champions, Three-time Four Continents Champions, World Junior Champions, Junior Grand Prix Final Champions, Eight-time Canadian National Champions, Only ice dancers to achieve career grand slam)
Other skaters Dubreuil has choreographed for include:
The coaches of the Ice Academy of Montreal (IAM), including Dubreuil and her husband, have received criticism from skating fans online regarding the treatment of some of their students.
In a 2022 French documentary about French Olympic champion ice dancers and IAM pupils, Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron, titled Le couple de feu, Papadakis claimed to have unexpectedly gotten pregnant around the same time that the 2021 World Championships took place. She said that as an elite athlete, this made her feel intense feelings of guilt. Two weeks following the discovery, Papadakis informed her coaching team at the Ice Academy of Montreal about her situation. She alleges that they were unsympathetic and simply told her to "deal with it and come back," making her feel as though she had no other choice but to have an abortion performed on her. Papadakis stated that this incident had a severe impact on her mental health.[61][62]
In fall 2023, Danish-Canadian ice dancer, Nikolaj Sørensen, a long-time student of the IAM, was investigated by Canada's Sport Integrity Commissioner for the alleged sexual assault of an American figure skating coach and former skater in 2012.[63] American journalist Christine Brennan would report this in USA Today days before the 2024 Canadian Championships. As a result, Sørensen and his partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry, would withdraw from those national championships, however, they were still assigned to compete at the 2024 Four Continents Championships and the 2024 World Championships, attracting outrage and media attention.[64][65] Despite this, Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen's coaching team continued to stand by them with Dubreuil even giving an interview shortly before the World Championships, saying, "These are allegations that have left no one indifferent. It has turned a lot of lives upside down. Nik continues to follow the investigation process and respects to the letter [what is asked of him]. It is not up to us to judge and discriminate. For him, for Laurence, for everyone, it was a big shock."[66] In October 2024, Sørensen would be found guilty by Canada's Sport Integrity Commissioner of sexual maltreatment and six-year suspension was ultimately issued by Skate Canada.[67]
In November 2024, French-Estonian ice dancer and IAM trainee, Solène Mazingue gave an interview, alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by Russian-American ice dancer, Ivan Desyatov, while in Zagreb, Croatia for the annual Golden Spin of Zagreb competition in December 2023. She would accuse the IAM coaches of not taking her claims seriously, alleging that she had confided in Dubreuil and detailed what had happened to her. Mazingue further alleged that Dubreuil promised to report the incident to SkateSafe and the leaders of Team USA. However, this was not followed through for the U.S. Center for SafeSport did not receive any report about the alleged incident until September 2024, which Mazingue filed herself. This would result in Desyatov being suspended from competing indefinitely one month later.[68]
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