Skaters We'll Miss, Part 7: Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat

Figure skating, for all its complexity, is a sport where most athletes play it safe. That's why when two ice-dancers dressed in bright colours emerged from France and skated on a routine they had come up with themselves, the judges were skeptic. Their discipline was, after all, renowned for its renditions of Romeo and Juliet or The Swan Lake. So what impact could Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat could possibly have in their hilarious costumes and goofy attitudes? If only they had known...

Nathalie and Fabian started skating together in 2000. They didn't get along from the very start and initially thought they were a bad fit. However, their relationship gradually evolved from necessity into a beautiful friendship and they discovered that it was the very things that they didn't have in common that made them a great couple.

Their first Olympic Games, Turin 2006
Photograph: Getty Images Sport

Their rise to fame was slow. For many years, they were only known as France's no. 2 couple, always in the shadow of Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder. It was for this very reason that they decided to let go of the coach that had brought them together, Muriel Zazoui.

The first significant international medal didn't find them until the 2006/2007 season. It was a Bronze at Skate America. Their tango original dance that season featured Mi Buenos Aires Querrido by Carlos Libendinsky and Escualo by Astor Piazzolla. Fast and intense, it was the first sign that this couple had chemistry and lots of sex appeal. The free skate was set to Four Seasons, but not THE Four Seasons, but a musical piece by Assen Merzouki. Although their costumes looked like they were made for a children's theatre play, nobody can deny their originality. While he wore spring and autumn, Nathalie represented summer and winter.

Joining the circus in 2008/2009
Photograph: Harry How/Getty Images
North America

The following season they qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where they finished sixth, and managed to squeeze into the top five at Europeans. Always looking to give their routines an extra touch, they made full use of the assigned original music, Spanish Flamenco, and incorporated a fan, which was cleverly connected to Nathalie's costume. The free skate was another opportunity for them to be ingenuous. As they've often done ever since, they picked several songs, put them together and made their own story with it. The one for the 2007/2008 season was called Craziness. It was an electronic composition that oozed novelty in a time where ice dancing was relying too much on classical music.

They became French Champions in 2008/2009 and were less than a point away from a European medal. The short dance was set to Puppini Sisters' It Don't Mean a Thing, but the real star was the long programme. It was not only hilarious, for that's what the circus is meant to be, but also sweet and melancolic; in addition, Fabian wore a convertible costume that would reveal some seriously-yellow sleeves in the middle of the routine.

In 2009/2010, they climbed the podium of the Grand Prix Final for the first time. The American country music they chose for the original dance matched their tendency to fool on ice and brought out their playfulness. The free dance was all about how merciless time is on humans and featured three songs: Kika by Ezekiel, Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell and Time by Maxim Rodriguez. It included some risky elements that gave them trouble, like Fabian's cartwheel, so they eventually went back to the circus routine.

Dr. Zhivago, a tragic love story
Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images Asia

All the waiting in the wings and hard work finally paid off in 2010/2011, when they became European champions. One of their most memorable routines is the elegant Dr. Zhivago waltz, which they presented that season after giving up on the early Amelie. With the change came the assurance that they could tell serious stories, and skate to classics just as well as to originals. The Charlie Chaplin Medley that gave them the theme of the long programme was a little bit of both. The story of the blind girl whose world is only given pictures by the giddy man who's in love with her, had a touch of magic to it. It made you sigh, it made you laugh and it ultimately made you dream.

They moved to the US in May 2011 and started working with Pasquale Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova. Almost a year later, they won their second European title and finished third at the World Championships. Their presence in Nice was marked by an unfortunate peculiarity though: due to an injury, Nathalie had to skate the free dance with a broken nose. For their Carnival in Rio short programme, they used Mas Que Nada, Batucada and Real in Rio. The long routine was an acrobatic wonder. Wearing Egyptian embellishments and cloth straps, The Pharaoh and His Mummy astonished everyone with their balance lifts.

A mummy and a pharaoh on the European podium
Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos /Getty Images Europe

2012/2013 was a less fortunate season, as an injury prevented them from skating at the Europeans, and they finished sixth at the World Championships. Their short dance however was an amazing tribute paid to their French heritage. They took inspiration from the renowned Moulin Rouge and skated on famous French songs such as Sous le ciel de Paris by Yves Montand. The long programme was for many not dramatic enough to compete with rivals such as Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. In response, they stated that they will not change for the sake of other skaters. And good they did, for the Rolling Stones Medley was like a breath of fresh air whenever they presented it.

Their last season as competitive skaters brought them their fifth National title and a second World bronze  medal. They would have most likely ended up on the European podium as well if they hadn't withdrawn to focus on the Olympics, where they finished fourth. Their foxtrot, quickstep and charleston, inspired by Chicago, was probably the sexiest short dance of the season. The long routine was at the other end of the spectrum. Entitled The Prince and His Rose, it was something like a fairy-tale told on ice. The four songs featured in the programme belonged to Benoit Jutras, Raphael Beaun, Max Steiner, Fernando Sor and Maxime Rodriguez.

The Prince and His Rose, a fairy-tale on ice
Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images Europe

Now, when we speak of the recent change ice-dancing has gone through, many of us put the spotlight on the American and Canadian teams, completely ignoring the French. The truth is however, that Nathalie and Fabian's programmes were more about the presentation than any of their rivals'. They skated to their own rules from the very beginning and by doing so, they created a precedent. Thanks to them, we now know it is alright to tell an original tale on ice and that it can be just as good as that assisted by a movie, an opera, a classical composer or a ballet. So let's give them their rightful place and next time we speak of 'the new era of ice-dance', make sure we remember Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat's contribution to it.