‘Where art meets sport’ – Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron dubbed figure skating greats

And on Monday they completed the job in emphatic style, upgrading their Pyeongchang silver to gold in China after a free dance score of 136.15.

Papadakis and Cizeron finished six marks clear of world champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia, while USA’s Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won bronze.

Former British Olympian Chris Howarth joined Simon Reed on commentary for Eurosport, and the pair were left dazzled by Papadakis and Cizeron’s free dance to Elegie by Gabriel Faure.

“Olympic champions!” Reed said before the final score was revealed, adding: “For four minutes it was exactly at the point where art and sport met, the pinnacle of entertainment – in the most important competition in their lives!”

Howarth added: “It was absolutely phenomenal, from the first five seconds you know they were on the money. This could be a huge score.”

The 136.15 was short of their own world-record mark in the free, but it confirmed what Reed had deemed inevitable – while it was a new record for a combined total.

Reed added: “Just short of it [their own free dance world record], but they have won! They lost in Pyeongchang by under a mark, but here they’ve decimated the field.

“As fine an ice dance couple as there has been in history.”

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