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Olivier Schoenfelder is a figure skating athlete competing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics for France. His ice dancing partner is Isabelle Delobel.

2009-10 Music
Original Dance: French Cancan
Free Dance: Jacques Brel's "La Quête"

In March 2009, Isabelle announced that she and longtime boyfriend Ludovic Roux were expecting. The couple married in June, and Isabelle gave birth to a baby boy, Lois, on October 2, 2009. Ludovic owns an Olympic medal from the 1998 Nagano Games, where he was one of the French foursome that placed third in the team event.

While learning the team's 2009-10 programs, French teammate and 2006 World silver medalist Marie-France Dubreuil subbed for Isabelle, so Olivier Schoenfelder could still practice lifts. During a press conference at Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, Isabelle announced that she and Olivier were set to return to practice in October.

As a fitting follow-up to their 2008 World title, Isabele and Olivier dominated the 2008-09 season. They won both of their Grand Prix assignments (France and Skate America) and the Grand Prix Final. During the exhibition in Goyong City, South Korea, Isabelle injured her right shoulder and underwent arthroscopic surgery in January 2009, forcing the team out of the 2009 European and World Championships.

Isabelle wrote on her web site: "Regarding the surgery I underwent, I got a buffer with two screws and a repair of the bursa. I had a front lesion and during the operation, they discovered I had posterior lesions that couldn't be seen with MRI. To all our fans I want to assure you that I will do everything necessary to come back even stronger and more motivated than ever. We will return on the ice as soon as possible, after Dr. Lafosse gives me clearance to do so. I am happy to know that you are supporting us, it gives me courage for the following weeks of recovery. See you all soon at the ice rink or on the TV screen. We will keep you informed with my progress. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!"

The two-time Olympians are the veterans among the world's top dance teams, with a partnership spanning two decades. In 1990, Isabelle and Olivier both attended a training camp in Lyon, where two-time Olympic medalists Irina Moiseyeva and Andrei Minenkov spotted them and said, according to Isabelle, "Oh, this blonde guy and this dark-haired girl ... those two could be really good together." They quickly decided to team up, and Isabelle, then 12, moved to Lyon to skate. For the 2001-02 season leading up to the Salt Lake Games, Isabelle and Olivier lived in Connecticut and trained with Tatyana Tarasova, but immediately following Salt Lake, they returned to Lyon. "We didn't really feel at ease in the USA," Delobel says. "I was missing France, my family and friends very much. France is our home, after all."



With the second-best free dance of the competition, Isabelle and Olivier finished fourth in Torino behind Ukranians Yelena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov. The close margin between the two teams, about a point and a half, made the fourth-place finish a frustrating one for the team, which also had finished fourth at the 2006 Europeans.

At the 2002 French national championships, Isabelle tore an abdominal muscle during practice, and they withdrew from the event prior to the original dance. She missed six weeks of training time, and the team did not compete at the 2002 European Championships. Though they placed 16th in Salt Lake, Isabelle wasn't fully healed, and the team took falls in both the original and free dances, in an event Isabelle calls their "worst competition." (The pair hadn't placed as low as 16th in a competition since their world championship debut four years earlier.) Their French teammates, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, won the gold medal in Salt Lake.

In May, 2005 Olivier married another Isabelle—Isabelle Pacheur. Before he began skating, Olivier took ballet lessons from his mother.


OLIVIER SCHOENFELDER: FACTS

How old is Olivier Schoenfelder? Where does Olivier Schoenfelder live? Find out here.

Age: 34 years old
Birthday: November 30, 1977
Birthplace: Belfort, France
Hometown: Lyon, France
Current Residence: Lyon, France
Wife: Isabelle Pecheur





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