Paul Duchesnay

Paul Duchesnay
Paul Duchesnay
	The Duchesnays at an Exhibition in Berlin in 1989
Personal information
Country represented	France
Former country(ies) represented	Canada
Born	July 31, 1961 (age 60); Metz, France
Height	5 ft 8.5 in (1.74 m)
Former partner	Isabelle Duchesnay
Retired	1996
show Medal record
Figure skating
Ice dancing
Representing France
Olympic Games
World Championships
European Championships

Olympic medal record
Representing France
Figure skating

Paul Duchesnay (born July 31, 1961 in Metz, France) is a retired ice dancer who represented France for most of his career. With his sister Isabelle Duchesnay, he is the 1991 World champion and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist.

Career[]

The Duchesnays started skating at an early age in Canada in pairs. Their first major success came at the 1982 Canadian Nationals, where they placed second in the junior competition. After a serious accident where Isabelle hit her head, they switched to ice dancing. Over time, the Duchesnays’ skating became more innovative and revolutionary with help from 1984 Olympic champion Christopher Dean. After Skate Canada criticized their skating, they decided to leave the Canadian team. In 1985, they began skating for their mother's homeland, France. They were coached by Martin Skotnicky, based out of Oberstdorf, Germany.

The Duchesnays’ 1988 Winter Olympics programs were considered unusual. Their free dance, a jungle-inspired dance set to drums, was not well received by judges and they finished eighth overall.^[2] Despite the judges’ reactions, the Duchesnays continued skating in their unusual and innovative style. They placed third and second in the 1989 and 1990 World Championships, respectively. They won their only World title at the 1991 Worlds in Munich, Germany.

The Duchesnays were favoured to win gold at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.^[3]^[4] They won the silver medal behind Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko. The Duchesnays then retired from amateur competition and competed professionally until Paul suffered a serious rollerblading accident in 1996.

In 1996, the Duchesnays were nominated for a Gemini Award in Best Performance - Performing Arts Program or Series for their performance in “The Planets”.^[5]^[6] [1] Paul Duchesnay is now a coach in the United States.[2]

Personal life[]

Paul Duchesnay was born to a French mother and Canadian father.^[3] He was born in France but his family moved to Aylmer, Quebec, in 1962. He also had an elder brother, Gaston who died in 1991.^[7]

Results[]

(ice dance with Isabelle Duchesnay)

International
Event	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
Olympics						8th				2nd
Worlds				12th	9th	6th	3rd	2nd	1st
Europeans				8th	5th	3rd		3rd	2nd
Skate America					1st
Nebelhorn	2nd
National
French				1st	1st			1st	1st
Canadian	4th	4th	3rd

Amateur Career Programs[]


Season	Original Set Pattern Dance	Free Dance	Exhibition
1991-1992	Polka - The Lonely Goatherd from The Sound of Music Soundtrack Choreographed by Christopher Dean	West Side Story soundtrack by Leonard Bernstein Choreographed by Christopher Dean
1990-1991	Blues - from A Streetcar Named Desire Soundtrack Choreographed by Christopher Dean	Missing II - Atahualpa and Cacharpaya by Inti Illmani Choreographed by Christopher Dean Reflections - Ocean Waves by George Winston Choreographed by Christopher Dean	Tango Blues
1989-1990	Samba - Instrumental version of Late in the Evening by Paul Simon Choreographed by Christopher Dean	Missing I - Dolencias and Sikuriades by Inti Illimani Choreographed by Christopher Dean	Malaguena by Ernesto Lecuona Missing I - Dolencias and Sikuriades by Inti Illimani Choreographed by Christopher Dean
1988-1989	Charleston - Josephine Baker Choreographed by Christopher Dean	Instrumental version of Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles Choreographed by Christopher Dean
1987-1988	Argentine tango Choreographed by Christopher Dean	Savage Rites Choreographed by Christopher Dean
1986-1987	Waltz - The Skater's Waltz Op.183 by Emile Waldteufel	Malaguena by Ernesto Lecuona	Paso Doble/Flamenco

References[]

^ Sports Reference
^ Swift, E.M. (7 March 1988). "So Much For Originality". Sports Illustrated.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Janofsky, Michael (14 February 1992). "ALBERTVILLE; Duchesnays Try to Make Just as Striking an Exit". The New York Times.
^ Swift, E.M. (24 February 1992). "Theater Of The Absurd: After making the bizarre the norm, the Duchesnays went conservative and lost". Sports Illustrated.
^ "1995-1996 10th Gemini Awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006.
^ "The Planets". Bullfrog Films, Inc.
^ Hersh, Phil (October 13, 1991). "Bittersweet life for Duchesnays". Chicago Tribune.

External links[]

The Duchesnays at Figure Skating Corner
New York Times articles on the Duchesnays
Paul Duchesnay at IMDb
Care to Ice Dance? - Duchesnay & Duchesnay^{[permanent dead link]}

[1] Sports Reference

[si880307-2] Swift, E.M. (7 March 1988). "So Much For Originality". Sports Illustrated.

[nyt920214-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Janofsky, Michael (14 February 1992). "ALBERTVILLE; Duchesnays Try to Make Just as Striking an Exit". The New York Times.

[si920224-4] Swift, E.M. (24 February 1992). "Theater Of The Absurd: After making the bizarre the norm, the Duchesnays went conservative and lost". Sports Illustrated.

[lat9596gem-5] "1995-1996 10th Gemini Awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006.

[bffplanets-6] "The Planets". Bullfrog Films, Inc.

[7] Hersh, Phil (October 13, 1991). "Bittersweet life for Duchesnays". Chicago Tribune.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

show Authority control
General	Integrated Authority File (Germany) ISNI 1 VIAF 1 WorldCat
National libraries	France (data) United States Netherlands
Other	Faceted Application of Subject Terminology

Olympic medal record
Representing France
Figure skating
	1992 Albertville	Ice dancing