Personal life

Both of Gwendal Peizerat's parents were involved in figure skating, his father serving as the general secretary of the French federation and his mother in charge of a club in Lyon. His sister is two years older.

Peizerat holds a management degree from EMLYON Business School, a DEUG in materials science, and a maîtrise in STAPS from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1. He has two daughters, Shanelle (born in 2012), and Lilas (born 21 December 2013).

Skating career

Early years

Peizerat started skating at age four when he and his sister followed their parents to the ice rink. He went into ice dancing straight away. He was coached by Muriel Boucher-Zazoui since the age of six and throughout his entire career.

Boucher-Zazoui paired seven-year-old Peizerat with his first partner, French skater Marina Morel, who was the same age as him; Morel and Peizerat skated together for fourteen years. They won bronze at the 1989 World Junior Championships and then silver in 1991. Morel retired in 1992.

Partnership with Anissina

Following the end of his partnership with Morel, Peizerat responded to a letter he had received a few months earlier from Russian World Junior champion Marina Anissina, who chose him after watching competitions on video.

Anissina arrived in Lyon in February 1993 and wanted to take him to Russia but his family objected. She settled in France, focusing intensely on skating and insisting her partner, who was dividing his time between skating and his education, be equally focused on their career. Their first year together produced many quarrels and they came close to splitting up. Their coach Muriel Boucher-Zazoui, however, immediately felt it was a promising partnership, saying "They are like fire and ice".

Anissina and Peizerat were selected for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer but her French citizenship was granted a few weeks too late. The Olympics, unlike most skating competitions, require both partners to be citizens of the country they are representing.

Anissina and Peizerat won the 1998 Olympic bronze medal and 1998 and 1999 World silver medals behind Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov. The Russians retired due to injury and Anissina and Peizerat then developed a rivalry with the Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. The French won the 2000 European and World Championships.

In 2001, Anissina and Peizerat won European and World silver behind the Italians but surged past them in 2002 to reclaim their European title and become the Olympic Champions. At the 2002 Olympics, they led after the compulsory dances and the original dance. Their free dance, "Liberty", mixed music with sections from the famed freedom speech by Martin Luther King Jr.; a 5-4 split of the judges' panel had them in first place in this segment ahead of Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, and they became the first French ice dancers to win the Olympic gold medal.

After the Olympics, Anissina and Peizerat retired from competition but continued skating together for many years in shows around the world. During their career, they represented the club Lyon TSC. Their signature move was Anissina lifting Peizerat off the ice, switching the traditional gender roles in lifts.

Peizerat was named a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit (France) in 1998 and a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 2003. He has done some choreography for other skaters.

Post-skating career

In 2003, Peizerat founded a consulting firm, Soléus. He has also worked for Eurosport, interviewing athletes.

In 2010, Peizerat was elected regional councillor on the list of the Socialist Party in the Rhone Alpes region and was subsequently appointed Councillor Delegate in charge of sports in the Regional Executive headed by Jean-Jack Queyranne.

Programs

With Anissina

Season	Original dance	Free dance	Exhibition
1993-1994	Quizás, Quizás, Quizás	Borrasca	J'en ai Marre Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
1994-1995	Sing, Sing, Sing	Tango	Still Loving You J'en ai Marre
1995-1996	Ay Mi Sombrero	Latin mix	Kozachok
1996-1997	Docteur Petiot (1990 film)	Ahla Leila	Kozachok I'm Sorry
1997-1998	Snatch and Grab It	Romeo and Juliet The Montagues and the Capulets Death of Juliet	Time To Say Goodbye
1998-1999	Waltz from Masquerade Waltz from My Sweet and Tender Beast	The Man in the Iron Mask Heart of a King Surrounded	Time To Say Goodbye
1999-2000	Black Machine Feeling the Passion Tres Deseos Black Machine Nostalgia de Palmeras Tres Deseos	Carmina Burana O Fortuna imperatrix munda Fortune plango vulnera	Danse mon Esmeralda
2000-2001	More Dancing Fool Mr Pinstripe Suit More	Beethoven's Last Night Overture Ode to Joy Dreams of Candlelight Beethoven	Susanna
2001-2002	Malagua Tango de Guell Malagua	Non Merci Canone Inverso Non Merci	Susanna

With Morel

Season	Original dance	Free dance	Exhibition
1992-1993	The Blue Danube	Libre parcours	French song

Competitive highlights

With Anissina

Results
International
Event	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02
Winter Olympics					3rd				1st
World Champ.	10th	6th	4th	5th	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd
European Champ.	12th	5th	4th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st	2nd	1st
GP (CS) Final				3rd	3rd	2nd	1st		2nd
	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st
Nations Cup		1st			2nd
NHK Trophy	5th	3rd	1st	2nd		1st	1st	1st	1st
Skate Canada			2nd	2nd				1st
Skate America		2nd				1st
Ondrej Nepela	1st
Piruetten	5th
National
French Champ.	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st

With Morel

International
Event	1988-89	1989-90	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93
European Champ.				12th
International de Paris				7th	6th
Piruetten					3rd
International: Junior
World Junior Champ.	3rd	4th	2nd
National
French Champ.				3rd	2nd

[ Source: Wikipedia ]