Olympic ice dance champion Guillaume Cizeron of France has accused former partner Gabriella Papadakis of spreading falsehoods about him ahead of the Milano Cortina Olympics.
Cizeron, who is competing at the European Championships this week with new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry, said he is the target of a smear campaign linked to Papadakis' memoir, So as Not to Disappear, which is set for release on Thursday.
Papadakis and Cizeron, who teamed up as children, were among the most decorated ice dance teams in history, winning five world championship titles and gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
They said they were taking a break in June 2022, and announced their retirement two years later.
In excerpts published by French media, Papadakis described an "unbalanced" relationship, calling Cizeron "controlling" and "demanding," and said she often felt "under his grip."
"In the face of this smear campaign, I want to express my incomprehension and disagreement with the labels attributed to me," Cizeron said in a statement.
"The book contains false information, including statements I never made, which I consider serious."
He added that his lawyers have been instructed to demand an immediate halt to what he called defamatory claims.
"For more than 20 years, I have shown deep respect for Gabriella Papadakis," Cizeron said. "Despite the gradual erosion of our bond, our relationship was built on equal collaboration and marked by success and mutual support."
Reuters has contacted Papadakis for comment.
Cizeron teamed up with Fournier Beaudry, who previously competed for Canada with Nikolaj Sorensen, last March. Fournier Beaudry received her French citizenship in November, paving the way to Olympic eligibility.
They won their two Grand Prix competitions this season, and finished second behind Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates at the Grand Prix Final last month.
They are expected to challenge Chock and Bates for gold at the Milano Cortina Olympics, which open on February 6.
The rhythm dance at the European Championships is Friday, followed by the free dance on Saturday.
Since her retirement, Papadakis has worked as a broadcaster at figure skating events. She is also a big proponent of permitting same-sex teams to compete in ice dance.
She and American Madison Hubbell have skated together in exhibitions in a bid to help pave the way for same-sex pairs to compete officially.
Swiss Olympic snowboard medallist Ueli Kestenholz dies in avalanche
Swiss snowboarder and Olympic medallist Ueli Kestenholz, 50, died after being buried in an avalanche on Sunday in the Loetschental region of Canton Valais, the Swiss skiing federation Swiss‑Ski said on Tuesday.
Kestenholz won a bronze medal in snowboarding's inaugural Olympic event, the giant slalom at Nagano in 1998.
He also secured multiple World Cup podiums, and retired from competition in 2006.
A statement from Valais police, which did not identify Kestenholz by name, said the avalanche swept the snowboarder from the eastern flank of the Hockuchriz peak around 2,400 metres (7,874 feet) up the mountainside.
A skiing companion he was with managed to escape the avalanche, police said.
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