Demougeot & Le Mercier Mirror and Look Forward
By Matteo Morelli
Of their second 12 months as senior opponents, Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier are a younger French group that’s already displaying a novel 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 mirror on their transition from the junior to the senior discipline.
Loïcia and Théo, this was your second European championships. How do you are 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 finest within the rhythm dance and we’re completely happy. We didn’t do one of the best efficiency however we’re nonetheless completely happy. A seventh at Euros is a extremely good outcome for us.
Loïcia Demougeot (LD): We attempt to strategy the occasion with out an excessive amount of stress, displaying what we did in apply.
You might be each fairly younger: what age had been you whenever you began to skate?
TL: I used to be three once 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 previous. Theo and I began skating collectively once I was fourteen and Theo was fifteen, so it has been a number of years now.
2015 was the 12 months you began skating collectively, along with your coaching location in Villard de Lans, France. Have you ever all the time been ice dancers?
TL: I did a whole lot of sports activities, however on ice I’ve all the time performed ice dance.
LD: I additionally solely did ice dance, however with out 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 annually, nearly an equal of the World Championships, though there are solely few nations collaborating to it. You possibly can say we’re world champions, however I desire to say that we’re Nations Cup winners. It’s a actually good occasion: this 12 months it’s going to 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’ll be able to go on the ground, do one thing between folks. There should not so many guidelines. If you happen to fall it’s okay, you’ll be able to go on the ice! It’s a whole lot of enjoyable to do it with different folks, significantly as a result of we do it with the folks we practice with.
You probably did a whole lot of competitions throughout your junior years, together with profitable two silver medals at Junior Grand Prix and qualifying for the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Closing. What would you say was one of the best second for you throughout these years?
LD: Not the final 12 months!
TL: After we certified for the finals in Turin, I believe that was one of the best second. Positively not the final 12 months, due to Covid we did nothing. However the 12 months earlier than was the second we bought found by these watching ice skating.
You then bought nearly catapulted into your senior profession, and in your second 12 months as seniors you have 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 happy about that. We simply hope to develop increasingly more throughout massive competitions and accumulate good outcomes. We’re completely happy we had an opportunity to do our first two Grand Prix this 12 months.
Fascinated with your fashion, you come throughout as fairly distinctive and with programmes that all the time attempt to convey one thing progressive on the ice.
TL: We all the time attempt to change our programmes and elegance yearly. This 12 months, we went with Benoît Richaud, which is sweet for us as a result of he modified what we do and allowed us to convey 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 bought any long run aims you’re working in the direction of?
TL: We wish to be in the whole lot!
LD: We want to go to the Olympic Video games. We simply wish to take it step-by-step and see what occurs.
Lastly, are there any ice dancers you have a look at and get inspiration from?
TL: In fact Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, unquestionably. For me personally, Scott Moir was a mannequin, and likewise Nikita Katsalapov: I believe they’ve a method much like mine and I wish to hold working to develop into nearly as good as them.
