Retired Olympic champions Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis plan to skate together at events in a bid to help pave the way for same-sex pairs to compete officially.
France's Papadakis won gold in ice dancing while American Hubbell won in the team event, both in Beijing.
The two women will perform together during the Art on Ice Gala in several cities in Switzerland this month, and hope to help break down a gender stereotype in the sport.
"I see a lot of young women who want to pursue ice dance in a certain way and there's not that many young boys or men who are competing, so there's a limit to how many people right now are participating," Hubbell told Reuters on Wednesday after her rehearsal with Papadakis in Zurich.
In October 2022, Skate Canada became the sport's first governing body to allow same-gender pairs to compete at the national level.
https://www.reuters.com/sports/papadakis-hubbell-skate-together-promote-same-sex-pairs-competition-2025-02-06/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwY2xjawIXaV1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRkcasLhM7VZj1KdfoGZ9Chp76XLBmcKBJ6Brj1PNdY8It_oZuLEPmjfpA_aem_RElWRNRaDh2aig4Xh7yE4A
