Gwendal Peizerat (born 21 April 1972) is a French former competitive

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. With Marina Anissina, he is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time French national champion.

Personal life

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. His sister is two years older. Peizerat holds a management degree from EMLYON Business School, a DEUG in materials science, and a maîtrise in STAPS from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1. He has two daughters, Shanelle (born in 2012), and Lilas (born 21 December 2013). He released a single "Baby Rock" in 2014.

Skating career

Early years

Peizerat started skating at age four when he and his sister followed their parents to the ice rink. He went into

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

straight away. He was coached by Muriel Boucher-Zazoui since the age of six and throughout his entire career. 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. They won bronze at the 1989 World Junior Championships and then silver in 1991. Morel retired in 1992.

Partnership with Anissina

Following the end of his partnership with Morel, Peizerat responded to a letter he had received a few months earlier from Russian World Junior champion Marina Anissina, who chose him after watching competitions on video. Anissina arrived in Lyon in February 1993 and wanted to take him to Russia but his family objected. 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. Their coach Muriel Boucher-Zazoui, however, immediately felt it was a promising partnership, saying "They are like fire and ice". Anissina and Peizerat were selected for the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

in Lillehammer but her French citizenship was granted a few weeks too late. The Olympics, unlike most skating competitions, require both partners to be citizens of the country they are representing. Anissina and Peizerat won the 1998 Olympic bronze medal and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 1999 World silver medals behind Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov. The Russians retired due to injury and Anissina and Peizerat then developed a rivalry with the Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and

Maurizio Margaglio Maurizio Margaglio (; born 16 November 1974) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Barbara Fusar-Poli, he is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian ...

. The French won the 2000 European and

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In 2001, Anissina and Peizerat won European and World silver behind the Italians but surged past them in 2002 to reclaim their European 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 by

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

; a 5-4 split of the judges' panel had them in first place in this segment ahead of Irina Lobacheva and

Ilia Averbukh Ilia Izyaslavich Averbukh (russian: Илья Изяславич Авербух, correctly spelled "Ilya"; born 18 December 1973) is a Russian ice dancer. With his then-wife Irina Lobacheva, he is the 2002 Olympic silver medalist, the 2002 World ...

, and they became the first French ice dancers to win the Olympic gold medal. After the Olympics, Anissina and Peizerat retired from competition but continued skating together for many years in shows around the world. 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. Peizerat was named a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit (France) in 1998 and a Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 2003. He has done some choreography for other skaters.

Post-skating career

In 2003, Peizerat founded a consulting firm, Soléus. He has also worked for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...

, interviewing athletes. In 2010, Peizerat was elected regional councillor on the list of the Socialist Party in the Rhone Alpes region and was subsequently appointed Councillor Delegate in charge of sports in the Regional Executive headed by Jean-Jack Queyranne.

Programs

With Anissina

With Morel

Competitive highlights

With Anissina

With Morel

References

External links

Official Website GwendalPeizerat.com
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(English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Peizerat, Gwendal 1972 births Living people People from Bron French male ice dancers Olympic figure skaters of France Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics European champions for France Emlyon Business School alumni Season-end world number one figure skaters Regional councillors of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Sportspeople from Lyon Metropolis