This time, neither a dress nor a couple of Canadians came to block their way to the top step of the podium.
As was the case in Pyeongchang four years ago, where they failed by less than a point in their conquest of Olympus.
In Beijing, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won Olympic gold this time, the only major title missing from their formidable track record, they are quadruple world champions and five-time European champions in ice dancing.
To discover
The Olympic medal table: Norway already in the lead, France unlocks its counter
Full results of the 2022 Winter Olympics
The complete program of the Beijing Olympics 2022
From Saturday, during the rhythmic dance, the French had hit hard by improving their world record with a score of 90.83, relegating the Russian world champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov to almost two points.
A first step towards gold, which the duo trained by Romain Haguenauer followed up with a second this Monday after a magnificent performance to the sound of Elegy by Gabriel Fauré, a work composed at the end of the 19th century. century that they made theirs to bewitch the (thin) public present at the Omnisports Palace of Beijing-Capital.
From their first glance, before the music begins, to their embrace, so strong, at the last note, Gabriella Papadakis (26 years old) and Guillaume Cizeron (27 years old) will have produced a performance full of grace and sensuality, with a number of technical difficulties higher than that of their Russian rivals.
With a score of 136.15, not only did the French couple win gold, but in the way that is so dear to them with almost five points better than the Sinitsina-Katsalapov duo on this free.
More than a title, a triumph that Papadakis and Cizeron could savor, between intense happiness and relief at having erased the memory of Pyeongchang.
Since Pyeongchang, the French duo had only experienced one defeat, at the 2020 European Championships, but also experienced a delicate period by remaining twenty months, until last October, without skating in competition, mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to Papadakis and Cizeron, France, whose last title in ice dancing dates back to 2002 with Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, now has 11 medals at the Beijing Games, including three gold, and is slowly but surely approaching his record of 15 from the last two Games.
That the Blues therefore still have six days to equal, then exceed.