Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon

Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon
Five-Time Canadian Champions
Two-Time World Silver Medalists

When Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon got married in 2008, they defied wedding convention by walking each other down the aisle. Side-by-side is how they have lived their lives for more than a decade. "Everything that we achieved we did together, so why not even do that together," says Dubreuil, who accepted Lauzon's romantic proposal on Nov. 11, 2007 during the Lake Placid rehearsals for Stars on Ice.

When asked to describe her favorite moments of their skating career, Dubreuil's memory turns to the first time she skated with Lauzon. "That's when I really felt that I can have a chance to go to Worlds and Olympics. That was one of the highlights of my career," she says.

They made their first Canadian Olympic team in 2002 and were looking for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games to be a joyful climax in their careers. Instead it became a sad image replayed over and over—Dubreuil slipping from an intricate moving lift in their original dance and crashing to the ice. Lauzon, carried her off the ice and then from the kiss & cry area. The next day he practiced alone and before leaving the ice stopped to kiss the Olympic rings—a gesture Dubreuil had planned to do at the conclusion of their free dance. Although the hip injury Dubreuil suffered in Torino kept them from completing the Olympic competition, they returned one month later at the World Championships and won the free dance and the silver medal.

For Lauzon, the Olympic disappointment solidified the fact that life came before sport. "It made me realize that Marie and what we have together is much more important than anything else," he says. The subsequent success at Worlds showed, "Under pressure, with confidence, you can achieve pretty much anything you want." Dubreuil describes the free dance at the World Championships in Calgary as the number two highlight in her skating career.

Following the successful conclusion to the 2005-06 season, the duo considered retirement. Having lived and trained in Lyon, France for four years, they missed their families and were ready to return to Canada. But after Dubreuil took a couple of months to rest and fully heal her injury, they realized they wanted to continue to compete. In Tokyo, they won their second World silver medal, but finding it more and more difficult to commit to the intense demands of training, they decided to spend the 2007-08 season touring the U.S. with Stars on Ice. It provided them with a fresh perspective.

"We always thought we were more competitive skaters than show skaters, but we loved performing with Stars on Ice," Lauzon says. "By doing that tour, we evolved as skaters. That side of our skating really improved."

After much soul searching, they decided not to return to competition and on May 20, 2008 announced their retirement. "We feel we're not passionate enough to be able to train all those hours anymore," says Lauzon.

They are not cutting their ties to France. Their former coach, Muriel Boucher-Zazoui asked them to choreograph the free dance of their former training mates, 2008 World Ice Dance Champions Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder. They will also collaborate with their former choreographer, David Wilson, on the free skate of Canadian pair skaters Jessica Dubé & Bryce Davison.

Dubreuil and Lauzon's final free dance was about a bride and groom dancing at their wedding. Their wedding will be a little less conventional, although when they began to think about the many friends they've made through their career, the guest listed swelled. No doubt, there will be some element as romantic as the proposal. "Can you imagine, after all these years he still surprises me," Dubreuil says.

Then it's home to their new neighborhood of "Old Montreal" with their Bernese Mountain Dog Yoko.  "Right now we are putting the finishing touches on a newly renovated kitchen and bathroom. Hopefully we will be home one day soon to enjoy it."

Dubreuil & Lauzon enjoyed their seven week experience this fall with the new hit CBC show Battle of the Blades.  Dubreuil was partnered with hockey legend Stéphane Richer where they make it to the finals.  Lauzon served as their coach.

They look forward to performing again with both the U.S. and Canadian Smucker's Stars on Ice tours. They then look forward to expanding their choreography work and starting a family.

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