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| Born | (1972-04-21)21 April 1972 (age 53) Bron, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Marina Anissina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | CSG Lyon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gwendal Peizerat (born 21 April 1972) is a French former competitiveice dancer. WithMarina Anissina, he is the2002 Olympic champion, the1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the2000 World champion, and a six-timeFrench national champion.
Both of Gwendal Peizerat's parents were involved in figure skating, his father serving as the general secretary of the French federation and his mother in charge of a club in Lyon.[1] His sister, Sandrine, is two years older.
Peizerat holds a management degree fromEMLYON Business School, aDEUG in materials science, and amaîtrise inSTAPS fromClaude Bernard University Lyon 1.[2] He has two daughters, Shanelle (born in 2012), and Lilas (born 21 December 2013). He released a single "Baby Rock" in 2014.[3][4]
Peizerat started skating at age four[1] when he and his sister followed their parents to the ice rink. He went intoice dancing straight away. He was coached byMuriel Boucher-Zazoui since the age of six and throughout his entire career.[5][6]
Boucher-Zazoui paired seven-year-old Peizerat with his first partner, French skater Marina Morel, who was the same age as him; Morel and Peizerat skated together for fourteen years.[6] They won bronze at the1989 World Junior Championships and then silverin 1991. Morel retired in 1992.
Following the end of his partnership with Morel, Peizerat responded to a letter he had received a few months earlier from Russian World Junior championMarina Anissina, who chose him after watching competitions on video.[6]
Anissina arrived in Lyon in February 1993 and wanted to take him to Russia but his family objected.[7][6] She settled in France, focusing intensely on skating and insisting her partner, who was dividing his time between skating and his education, be equally focused on their career. Their first year together produced many quarrels and they came close to splitting up.[6] Their coachMuriel Boucher-Zazoui, however, immediately felt it was a promising partnership, saying "They are like fire and ice".[5]
Anissina and Peizerat were selected for the1994 Winter Olympics inLillehammer but her French citizenship was granted a few weeks too late.[7] The Olympics, unlike most skating competitions, require both partners to be citizens of the country they are representing.[citation needed]
Anissina and Peizerat won the 1998Olympic bronze medal and1998 and1999 World silver medals behindAnjelika Krylova andOleg Ovsyannikov. The Russians retired due to injury and Anissina and Peizerat then developed a rivalry with the ItaliansBarbara Fusar-Poli andMaurizio Margaglio. The French won the 2000European andWorld Championships.[8]
For their free dance program in the 1997—1998 season, Anissina and Peizerat used music from theProkofiev balletRomeo and Juliet. At one point in the free dance, Anissina carried Peizerat completely off the ice and supported him on her hip, "as if to represent Juliet's emotional strength within the relationship".[9]ABC correspondentLesley Visser reported that this move had become their trademark and saw it as "a way of celebrating the opposite yet equal strengths of male and female".[10] Anissina and Peizerat continued to use the move in all of their free dances after 1998; figure skating writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum speculates that since they finished first or second in every competition during that period, they were not penalized for it, even though other dance teams might have used it as a gimmick rather than as an expression of their skating skills or an interpretation of their music.[10]
In 2001, Anissina and Peizerat won European and World silver behind the Italians but surged past them in 2002 to reclaim theirEuropean title and become the Olympic Champions. At the 2002 Olympics, they led after the compulsory dances and the original dance. Their free dance, "Liberty", mixed music with sections from the famed freedom speech byMartin Luther King Jr.; a 5-4 split of the judges' panel had them in first place in this segment ahead ofIrina Lobacheva andIlia Averbukh, and they became the first French ice dancers to win the Olympic gold medal.[11]
After the Olympics, Anissina and Peizerat retired from competition but continued skating together for many years in shows around the world.[12] During their career, they represented the club Lyon TSC. Their signature move was Anissina lifting Peizerat off the ice, switching the traditional gender roles in lifts.[citation needed]
Peizerat was named a Chevalier of theNational Order of Merit (France) in 1998 and a Chevalier of theLegion of Honour in 2003.[2] He has done some choreography for other skaters.[13]
In 2003, Peizerat founded a consulting firm, Soléus.[2] He has also worked forEurosport, interviewing athletes.[2]
In 2010, Peizerat was elected regional councillor on the list of theSocialist Party in theRhone Alpes region and was subsequently appointed Councillor Delegate in charge of sports in the Regional Executive headed byJean-Jack Queyranne.
| Season | Original dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–1994 [14] |
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| 1994–1995 [14] |
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| 1995–1996 [14] |
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| 1996–1997 [14] |
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| 1997–1998 [14] |
| Romeo and Juliet bySergei Prokofiev:
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| 1998–1999 [14] |
| The Man in the Iron Mask byNick Glennie-Smith:
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| 1999–2000 [14] |
| Carmina Burana byCarl Orff:
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| 2000–2001 [15][14] |
| Beethoven's Last Night byTrans-Siberian Orchestra:
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| 2001–2002 [16][14] |
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| Season | Original dance | Free dance | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–1993 |
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| Results[16][15] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International | |||||||||
| Event | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 |
| Winter Olympics | 3rd | 1st | |||||||
| World Champ. | 10th | 6th | 4th | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | |
| European Champ. | 12th | 5th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st |
| GP (CS) Final | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | ||||
| GPInternational de Paris / Trophée de France/Lalique | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| GPNations Cup | 1st | 2nd | |||||||
| GPNHK Trophy | 5th | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| GPSkate Canada | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | ||||||
| GPSkate America | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
| Ondrej Nepela | 1st | ||||||||
| Piruetten | 5th | ||||||||
| National | |||||||||
| French Champ. | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| GP = Became part ofChampions Series in 1995–96,Grand Prix from 1998 to 1999 | |||||||||
| International | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1988–89 | 1989–90 | 1990–91 | 1991–92 | 1992–93 |
| European Champ. | 12th | ||||
| International de Paris | 7th | 6th | |||
| Piruetten | 3rd | ||||
| International: Junior | |||||
| World Junior Champ. | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | ||
| National | |||||
| French Champ. | 3rd | 2nd | |||
