Demougeot & Le Mercier Replicate and Look Forward
By Matteo Morelli
Of their second 12 months as senior rivals, Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier are a younger French crew that’s already exhibiting a singular fashion on the ice. We met with them on the European Championships in Espoo, Finland, the place they shared how they really feel concerning the present season and replicate on their transition from the junior to the senior discipline.
Loïcia and Théo, this was your second European championships. How do you’re feeling after skating your programmes and securing a seventh place end on the occasion?
Théo Le Mercier (TL): we really feel fairly good, we did our new season greatest within the rhythm dance and we’re completely satisfied. We didn’t do one of the best efficiency however we’re nonetheless completely satisfied. A seventh at Euros is a extremely good end result for us.
Loïcia Demougeot (LD): We attempt to strategy the occasion with out an excessive amount of stress, exhibiting what we did in follow.
You’re each fairly younger: what age have been you whenever you began to skate?
TL: I used to be three after I put my skates on, I used to be with my father and my brother.
LD: And I began at 5 and a half years outdated. Theo and I began skating collectively after I was fourteen and Theo was fifteen, so it has been just a few years now.
2015 was the 12 months you began skating collectively, together with your coaching location in Villard de Lans, France. Have you ever all the time been ice dancers?
TL: I did numerous sports activities, however on ice I’ve all the time achieved ice dance.
LD: I additionally solely did ice dance, however and not using a companion first. Theo is my first companion.
TL: She is my second!
We perceive you additionally do “ballet sur la glace” or “theatre on ice”, a self-discipline that’s most likely not very well-known to the broader audiences. May you inform us one thing about it?
TL: We do theatre on ice with a bunch of fifteen-twenty folks. It’s nearly as if we do ice dance in a bunch, we attempt to create a extremely particular and unique ballet. There’s a Nations Cup every year, nearly an equal of the World Championships, though there are solely few international locations collaborating to it. You possibly can say we’re world champions, however I want to say that we’re Nations Cup winners. It’s a actually good occasion: this 12 months it’ll be in Boston, in the identical ice rink the place we did Skate America.
LD: You are able to do no matter you need on this self-discipline: for instance, you may go on the ground, do one thing between folks. There usually are not so many guidelines. If you happen to fall it’s okay, you may go on the ice! It’s numerous enjoyable to do it with different folks, notably as a result of we do it with the folks we practice with.
You probably did numerous competitions throughout your junior years, together with profitable two silver medals at Junior Grand Prix and qualifying for the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Ultimate. What would you say was one of the best second for you throughout these years?
LD: Not the final 12 months!
TL: Once we certified for the finals in Turin, I believe that was one of the best second. Undoubtedly not the final 12 months, due to Covid we did nothing. However the 12 months earlier than was the second we obtained found by these watching ice skating.
You then obtained nearly catapulted into your senior profession, and in your second 12 months as seniors you’ve got already collected two fourth locations at each Grand Prix occasions (Skate America and Grand Prix de France).
LD: We had an opportunity to start out our senior profession in a short time, we’re completely satisfied about that. We simply hope to develop an increasing number of throughout massive competitions and acquire good outcomes. We’re completely satisfied we had an opportunity to do our first two Grand Prix this 12 months.
Occupied with your fashion, you come throughout as fairly distinctive and with programmes that all the time attempt to carry one thing revolutionary on the ice.
TL: We all the time attempt to change our programmes and magnificence yearly. This 12 months, we went with Benoît Richaud, which is nice for us as a result of he modified what we do and allowed us to carry one thing new to the ice and to enhance on issues we couldn’t do earlier than. The programme is working very well and we’re very pleased with that.
Have you ever obtained any long run aims you might be working in the direction of?
TL: We need to be in every part!
LD: We want to go to the Olympic Video games. We simply need to take it step-by-step and see what occurs.
Lastly, are there any ice dancers you take a look at and get inspiration from?
TL: After all Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, no doubt. For me personally, Scott Moir was a mannequin, and in addition Nikita Katsalapov: I believe they’ve a method much like mine and I need to maintain working to turn out to be pretty much as good as them.