Laurence Fournier Beaudry
Laurence Fournier Beaudry (born July 18, 1992) is a Canadian ice dancer. Competing for Canada with her skating partner, Nikolaj Sørensen, she is a four-time Grand Prix bronze medallist and a four-time Challenger medallist, including gold at the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. Domestically they are the 2022 Canadian national silver and 2019 Canadian national bronze medallists.
Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen previously competed for Denmark, winning six ISU Challenger Series medals and representing Denmark at the World and European championships. In March 2018, Denmark released them to represent Canada after she was unable to obtain Danish citizenship to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Contents
- 1 Early career
- 2 Partnership with Sørensen
- 2.1 2013–2014 season
- 2.2 2014–2015 season
- 2.3 2015–2016 season
- 2.4 2016–2017 season
- 2.5 2017–2018 season
- 2.6 2018–2019 season
- 2.7 2019–2020 season
- 2.8 2020–2021 season
- 2.9 2021–2022 season
- 3 Programs
- 4 Compe*ive highlights
- 4.1 With Sørensen
- 4.1.1 For Canada
- 4.1.2 For Denmark
- 4.2 With Breton for Canada
- 4.3 With Quintal for Canada
- 4.1 With Sørensen
- 5 Detailed results
- 5.1 With Sørensen for Canada
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Early career
Fournier Beaudry initially focused on gymnastics, and began skating in 2001 at the urging of her parents, who were recreational skaters. Early in her career, she competed with Anthony Quintal. Together with Yoan Breton, she appeared on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in 2011. Following that, Breton retired, having achieved his goal of competing internationally.
Partnership with Sørensen
Fournier Beaudry had a tryout with Danish ice dancer Nikolaj Sørensen in February 2012. He decided to team up with Vanessa Crone, but called Fournier Beaudry five months later, shortly after Crone's decision not to compete with him.
Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen decided to represent Denmark while continuing to train under Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Quebec.
2013–2014 season
Making their international compe*ion debut in the fall of 2013, they won gold at the 2013 Pavel Roman Memorial, silver at the 2013 Ice Challenge, and bronze at the Toruń Cup. At the 2014 Danish Championships, they were the only compe*ors in ice dance.
In their ISU Championship debut, they placed thirteenth at the 2014 European Championships, and concluded the season placing twenty-ninth at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama.
2014–2015 season
The duo competed in three ISU Challenger Series events at the beginning of the season, placing fourth at the Volvo Open Cup, repeating as silver medallists at the Ice Challenge, and earning a bronze medal at the 2014 Autumn Cl*ic. They were again the only compe*ors at the Danish Championships' ice dance event.
At their second European Championships, they placed ninth. At the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, they placed eleventh.
2015–2016 season
Beginning the season again on the Challenger Series, Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen won the silver medal at the 2015 U.S. International Cl*ic and the bronze medal at the Finlandia Trophy. Making their Grand Prix debut, they placed seventh at the 2015 Skate Canada International.
Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen placed ninth at Europeans for the second consecutive year, and finished with a thirteenth-place finish at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.
2016–2017 season
On the Challenger Series, Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen won their second bronze medal at the Autumn Cl*ic International, and placed fourth at the Finlandia Trophy. Given two Grand Prix *ignments, they placed seventh at both Skate Canada International and the Rostelecom Cup.
The duo placed seventh at Europeans. They went on to place thirteenth at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Due to their result, Denmark qualified a spot in the ice dancing event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
2017–2018 season
They took part in three Challenger Series events, placing fourth at the 2017 U.S. International Cl*ic, seventh at the Autumn Cl*ic International, and winning a second bronze medal at the Finlandia Trophy. At their sole Grand Prix event for the season, the 2017 NHK Trophy, Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen placed fifth. Appearing at their third and final Danish Championships, they were again the only compe*ors in senior ice dance.
For much of the preceding years, Fournier Beaudry's citizenship status had dogged the team, as Danish law required seven years' residency for naturalization, and ultimately no allowance could be made. As a result, they were unable to take part in the Olympics despite having qualified a spot there. Following the 2018 European Championships, where they placed ninth, the two re*essed their options, and decided to switch countries and compete for Canada. In March 2018, Denmark released them for that purpose. Speaking of the challenges later, Fournier Beaudry remarked that they had been welcomed by Skate Canada, and that the Danish federation had always been supportive.
2018–2019 season
For the rhythm dance, Fournier Beaudry chose Adiós Nonino, creating a cut of different instrumental and lyrical versions. She and Sørensen opted to retain their free program from the previous season, revised for the ISU's new rules, because she felt "so much in love with that program. We felt it was growing so much and we did not have the time to get it where we wanted it to be." ISU rules required that a team switching countries sit out international compe*ion for a year from their last international appearance, meaning they were ineligible for the Challenger and Grand Prix series.
In their first compe*ion of the season, the 2019 Skate Canada Challenge, the duo placed first in both programs, qualifying for the 2019 Canadian Championships. At the Canadian Championships, they placed third and were named to the team for the 2019 Four Continents Championships and 2019 World Championships. They placed sixth at Four Continents, and tenth at the World Championships.
2019–2020 season
For their first event of the season, Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen won the silver medal at the Lombardia Trophy. They followed this with a gold medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy, their first Challenger *le, increasing their personal best score by over ten points. Returning to the Grand Prix after a season away, the placed third in the rhythm dance at the 2019 Skate America, becoming one of the first teams to earn a perfect Level 4 on the Finnstep pattern dance. They placed third in the free dance as well, winning the bronze medal. Fournier Beaudry remarked on the occasion "stepping onto that podium is everybody’s dream, so to finally be able to do it in our first Grand Prix skating for Canada after not being on the circuit last year is just very exciting." At their second event, the 2019 Cup of China, they were again third in the rhythm dance, and the only team at the event to earn a Level 4 on the Finnstep. Third as well in the free dance, despite some minor issues resulting in a lower score than at previous events, they won their second Grand Prix bronze. Sørensen explained afterwards that a knee injury had caused him to miss a week of training in between events.
Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen did not compete at the 2020 Canadian Championships, due to the latter undergoing a cartilage graft and a meniscotomy to repair his knee. On February 13, 2020, Skate Canada announced that they had been *igned to compete at the 2020 World Championships. On March 6, 2020, they withdrew from the World Championships due to Sørensen's incomplete recovery; the championships themselves were cancelled five days later.
2020–2021 season
Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen were *igned to the 2020 Skate Canada International, but the event was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
With the pandemic continuing to make in-person compe*ions difficult, Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen competed at virtual domestic compe*ions, winning the Quebec Sectionals and then taking the silver medal at the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge. The 2021 Canadian Championships were subsequently cancelled.
On February 25th, Fournier Beaudry and Sørenson were announced as part of the Canadian team to the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm. They placed seventh in the rhythm dance despite getting only one of the four keypoints on the Finnstep pattern. In the free dance they dropped to eighth place behind the British team Fear/Gibson by 0.04 points. Sørenson acknowledged afterwards having "left a couple of points on the table." Their placement combined with Gilles/Poirier's bronze medal win qualified three berths for Canadian dance teams at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
2021–2022 season
The team began the season at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, winning the silver medal for the second time. Sørenson commented afterwards that it was "not the best free dance today" following twizzle errors from both, but that "we are just going to build from here." Going onto their first Grand Prix *ignment of the year, 2021 Skate America, they placed third in the rhythm dance. Fourth in the free dance, dropping behind Spaniards Smart/Díaz in that segment, they remained in the bronze medal position overall by 0.44 points. Reflecting on "our third grand prix for Canada with a bronze medal", Fournier Beaudry called it "so nice to be back after two years of struggle and feeling like the machine is rolling and the bodies are rolling again." After winning another Challenger silver at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria, the following week they won another bronze medal at their second Grand Prix *ignment, the 2021 Rostelecom Cup.
At the 2022 Canadian Championships, held without an audience in Ottawa due to the pandemic, Fournier Beaudry/Sørenson placed second in both segments of the compe*ion to take the silver medal. They debuted a new free dance rec*ographed to Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard's score to Gladiator, a decision made three weeks prior. Sørenson said the original program "was an idea we came up with when we were off the ice and we were trying to navigate the beginning of this pandemic. So you know, feelings change, and what we thought we needed changed during this season." The following day they were named to the Canadian Olympic team. Speaking on the occasion to Danish TV 2, Sørenson reflected "it's a shame that we could not compete for Denmark, because we have never been to the Olympics in ice dancing. I often think the small countries are underrepresented in a sport like ice dancing."
Competing at the dance event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Fournier Beaudry/Sørenson placed eighth in the rhythm dance. A twizzle error by Sørenson caused them to place eleventh in the free dance, dropping them to ninth overall. They went on to finish the season at the 2022 World Championships in Montpellier, held with the Russian dance teams absent due to the International Skating Union banning all Russian athletes due to their country's invasion of Ukraine. Sørenson struggled with a back injury during the compe*ion, which caused problems in the free dance when their closing lift was aborted, dropping them from eighth to ninth place. He said "it's unfortunate but it happens."
Programs
(with Sørensen)
Compe*ive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Sørensen
For Canada
For Denmark
With Breton for Canada
With Quintal for Canada
Detailed results
With Sørensen for Canada
Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Current ISU personal bests highlighted in bold.
References
External links
Media related to Laurence Fournier Beaudry at Wikimedia Commons
- Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sorensen at the International Skating Union