Marie-France Dubreuil : on proper ways to train champions

[4everchan]

This interview is part of a larger documentary on figure skating made by Illico (on demand).

I thought it was important to share this article as well, since it shows how making champions can be done with healthy training focusing not only on medals and results, but also on personal development, emotional intelligence etc.

Marie-France explains how she didn't want to just train good technique to her students but also provide them with tools that would have a positive impact on their entire life.

She mentions how nutrition can be done properly for athletes, making it about what is needed to perform well, instead of "looking a certain way".

She leaves the weigh-ins to health professionals, and as only requested it with two couples, to see if there was enough difference between the men and women, to avoid injuries in lifts.

It is refreshing to see that the sport's culture can change AND still produce champions!

 

[ladyjane]

This reminds me. When I was 18, and in my first year of studying Nutrition and Dietetics, we had a so-called 'sports module' and one part of it was being weighed. We also had to measure a lot of other things, and issues like body shaming or remarks about needing to lose weight or something were not part of it at all, but I remember it so well because one of my fellow students who definitely looked a lot heavier than me, and would probably have been considered overweight, weighed much less than I did. And nobody, including myself, had considered me to be overweight or something, just compact and muscular. An important trigger for me to never even consider a necessity for losing weight, but always to try to eat healthily - and that included having chocolate, sweets, crisps, and other snack foods sometimes if not often and in small amounts. For good order: the fellow student also was quite happy with this specific weighing result! It goes to show that weight is not everything.

This is the thing I like best about this article @4everchan refers to:

She mentions how nutrition can be done properly for athletes, making it about what is needed to perform well, instead of "looking a certain way".

I am a registered dietician (even if I have a very different kind of job nowadays) and have been for many years and I would never, ever recommend certain eating habits to 'look a certain way'. Recommending eating habits to be fit, is something else altogether.

 

[el henry]

Thank you for this link, and thank you for your insights @ladyjane

Certainly no one can argue with Marie-France and Patrice's success, which is sometimes the (ridiculous) excuse for unhealthy eating and shaming through weigh-ins. I have yet to see one of these athletes say, Oh, it was so wonderful when I stepped on the scale, what a happy day

And I love the headline of the article "Success is not just a medal" says the coach behind the success of Virtue and Moir." (well, at least the most recent success

 

[LutzDance]

I have yet to see one of these athletes say, Oh, it was so wonderful when I stepped on the scale, what a happy day

There's also the flip side of it. Just as Joannie observed that some girls used "thinness" as a weapon to intimidate others, some athletes might be proud of how little they weigh on the scale. This can be an even more vicious motivator to drive ED development, as there's so much fulfillment in pushing down the numbers.

Thank you @ladyjane for making such good points. It might sound trite, but I think the most fundamental thing for an athlete to cultivate a healthy relationship with the body is to focus on the process (eating the right things, doing the right exercises, etc) instead of the results as defined by a few parameters, as the same parameters don't mean the same thing for everyone, and it's dangerous to be fixated upon such parameters.

 

[LutzDance]

On the topic of MFD's skaters and body image, I recall in Lilah Fear's podcast Nik mentioned telling LoLo not to be so hard on herself and if she wants to eat something that's not a salad, then go for it (this is some gross paraphrasing as I don't remember the exact words and can't muster enough energy to go through the entire 1hr+ interview). This raised my respect for Nik up for several notches.

And Kait put down her journey of dealing with body image beautifully in this IG post. She acknowledged the supportive environment at Gadbois:

For many years I spent my time as a skater feeling like I was constantly trying to prove that I was the “right” size to be successful in our sport. And for many years I didn’t have the team of people that I am lucky to have around me now to know that resorting to unhealthy behaviors is never the answer to appeasing the demands of our sport.

And this is just a beautiful and empowering statement:

I look at this picture today and I feel incredibly proud, not for the way I look, but for committing to always prioritizing my health and choosing to embrace my body for what it is and loving that body, my one and only home, unconditionally.

 

[4everchan]

On the topic of MFD's skaters and body image, I recall in Lilah Fear's podcast Nik mentioned telling LoLo not to be so hard on herself and if she wants to eat something that's not a salad, then go for it (this is some gross paraphrasing as I don't remember the exact words and can't muster enough energy to go through the entire 1hr+ interview). This raised my respect for Nik up for several notches.

Nik, not that I know him personally, but from meeting him briefly at competitions, seems like the most amazing guy ever. At first, I thought he was just the most handsome guy ever LOL... but now I know his beauty has no boundaries... inside and outside... hehehe

 

[Weathergal]

I can't help but think that Marie-France's attitude toward overall health - and the comments I've read about her and Patrice wanting their school to develop the whole person - is why, even in a "crowded" school in a highly competitive field, their skaters seem happy, get along and often have true friendships with their rivals, and are flourishing. Kudos to them!

 

[Znowflake]

What is the documentary on illico called? Is it in french?

 

[4everchan]

What is the documentary on illico called? Is it in french?

Pression and it is in French

 

[Znowflake]

Pression and it is in French

Thanks I’m going to check it out!