Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen of Canada perform their free dance in the ice dance competition at the 2024 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal in 2024.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Figure skater Laurence Fournier Beaudry broke down in tears in a new Netflix documentary as she described being caught up in the fallout after Nikolaj Sorensen, her boyfriend and former ice dance partner, was accused of sexual assault.
Fournier Beaudry, a 33-year-old from Montreal, opens up about the allegations in Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing, a docuseries set for release Feb. 1.
The three-part show follows three of ice dancing’s top teams ahead of the Milan Cortina Olympic Games in February, including Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France.
“I never really publicly discuss about how much damage it’s created,” Fournier Beaudry said in the first episode. “I don’t even want to go back to what I’ve felt in those moments because I thought I was so strong, and I really thought I could handle everything.
“Just felt like collateral damage.”
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Changing national representation is common in ice dance and pairs because of a shallow pool of potential partners.
Fournier Beaudry teamed up with Cizeron last year, gaining French citizenship in November, after Sorensen received a six-year ban for sexual maltreatment in October 2024.
The suspension followed an investigation by the now-defunct Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) into an allegation that Sorensen sexually assaulted an American figure skating coach and former skater in Hartford, Conn., in 2012.
“When they decided to suspend him, it meant that his career was over, which also meant that my career was over,” said Fournier Beaudry, who has publicly defended her boyfriend since a January 2024 report in USA Today brought the allegation to light.
Gold medal winners, France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, compete in the Ice Dance Free Dance, during Day 4 of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, earlier this month.Danny Lawson/The Associated Press
“This was extremely difficult because it was not only about skating, it was about my integrity, it was about his integrity. I know my boyfriend 100 per cent. I know him. And we [stood] strong together.”
An arbitrator at the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) overturned the suspension in June, citing jurisdiction issues. Sorensen was neither a Canadian citizen nor competing for Skate Canada at the time of the alleged incident.
The Netflix documentary stated the arbitrator’s decision remained under appeal as of the end of production. Under its disclosure policy, the SDRCC cannot comment on or provide information about cases that are not before the organization, are ongoing, or have been resolved through mediation.
Sorensen has denied the allegation, which has not been tested in court.
Fournier Beaudry and the 36-year-old Sorensen skated together for 13 seasons and have dated for 12 years, she said in the docuseries.
The duo competed for Denmark, Sorensen’s country of birth, before switching to Canada when Fournier Beaudry was unable to obtain Danish citizenship ahead of the 2018 Olympics.
Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen skated at the 2022 Winter Games, won a national title in 2023 and placed fifth at the 2023 world championships while representing Canada.
“The plan was to continue my career with Nik and go to Milan Cortina and enjoy our last season together,” she said. “But that’s not what happened.
“Everything that I’ve lived for the past year and a half has been a roller-coaster.”
The documentary also goes behind-the-scenes with three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States and Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who’ve won four world medals.
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron will join them as contenders in Milan after winning gold at last week’s European Championships in Sheffield, England, with the highest total score this season.
Cizeron has also faced controversy this season. Before the event, he accused former partner Gabriella Papadakis – with whom he won the Olympic gold medal in 2022 – of a “smear campaign” against him.
Papadakis published a book earlier this month in which she describes Cizeron as controlling. She said she lost a commentary role with NBC for the Winter Olympics.