could you explain how p/c managed to rise from 13th to winners and then go like 3 years unbeaten in such a short space of time? and why it was them and not say an american or russian team (if the ISU really wanted to block canada out after VM and sochi)? i know france isn’t necessarily a small fed but they also don’t tend to podium in other disciplines so it seems a bit odd in hindsight

So, there are a few different theories (and conspiracies-ish) about why P/C were able to come up from 13th to 1st in such a short amount of time, then there is the general state of ice dance while they were coming up. Let’s get into it:

 As is general knowledge, the previous head of the FFSG, Dider, was a notoriously corrupt, scheming, and all around total fucking jabroni, was in charge for their career while they were juniors and most during this time. Apparently he stopped them from going to the Olympics in 2014 even though they got silver at nationals, and a team that didn’t compete at French nationals (but did at Euros, and came ahead of P/C) was the second team to represent France at the Olympics. Apparently he took issue with them, they weren’t with the coaches he wanted them to be with, so he allegedly fought to keep them low because they weren’t doing what he wanted them to. Apparently he didn’t want to them to go Montreal but that the only reason they were allowed was because Romain was coming with them -- it’s a whole lot of rumours and French federation bullshit.

Personally, if you have eyes and watched their programs before they went to Gadbois, it makes all the fucking sense in the world why they were 13th. I mean, are you telling me this masterpiece deserved higher than top 10?

Some will say it was obvious they were amazing skaters already -- I have to disagree, Gabi really was quite weak with posture, toe point, and extension, and Guillaume was quite strong technically, but an emotionally empty skater -- as he still is -- he really only has one expression: constipated brooding.

During the time when they were juniors and just starting as seniors, Pechelat and Bourzat were also the top French team, and France is not a big enough federation to have multiple teams in ice dance near the top, so all of FFSG’s power was going to try and get P/B some medals, and P/C were not on their radar. 

In terms of why it wasn’t an American or Russia team -- there had been a pretty intense North American lock on Ice Dance for the last quad, and the only reason Russia even got a team on the Olympic podium in 2014 was because of some intense cheating and corruption, there wasn’t much in the way of depth in Russian skating post 2014 -- Elena and Nikita broke up, Bobrova and Soloviev were always a middling team, there was no other team ready to be at the top.

This was also in a post Olympic year when the top two teams that had dominated ice dance for four+ years were gone, plus the top French team retired, and the other French team that was ahead of P/C, that went to Sochi instead of them -- also retired. So, there was a vacuum in which all of a sudden they went from France #3 to France #1 in a season. 

Furthermore, all the teams that had fluctuated from like 3rd to 8th from 2010-2014 that stayed in were vying for top spots, teams like Weaver and Poje, Chock and Bates, Anna and Luca, the Shibs, Gilles and Poirier -- all teams which (imo at the time, and now) are not top of the top teams. I mean, if you just watch the Grand Prix Final of ice dance in 2014? It the saddest group of six teams there had been in a while. These were also all teams that the judges had been seeing for a while, and hadn’t seen much new or interesting from -- then: Boom! P/C show up, having been given a full glow up and actual good packaging from MF and Patch, a free dance and a song that created a moment for people, and you get the 2015 World Champions in Ice Dance.

I’m not saying I like it, but it definitely makes sense in the grand scheme of things. I don’t think it was deserved, but honestly, who else were they going to go it to? Weapo? Nah. 

Then the rest, as they say, is history. Their open, boring, and easy skating became the norm, they were heralded as these groundbreaking “modern” artists for their repetitive and wholly uninspired programs and went undefeated for a couple years.

*jaws theme music plays as February 2016 and a very auspicious announcement slowly peaks its head over the horizon boards*