Natacha Lagouge (born 12 March 2000) is a French ice dancer. With her skating partner, Arnaud Caffa, she is the

2022 CS Ice Challenge The 2022 CS Ice Challenge was held on November 9–13, 2022, in Graz, Austria. It was the eighth event of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance. Entries The International Ska ...

silver medalist, 2022 International Challenge Cup champion, and 2023 World University Games bronze medalist. With her former partner, Corentin Rahier, she is the 2017 JGP Austria bronze medalist and 2017 French national junior champion. They finished within the top eight at the 2018 World Junior Championships.

Personal life

Lagouge was born on 12 March 2000 in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, France. She holds French and Russian citizenship. Her mother is from Russia.

Career

Early years

Lagouge began learning to skate in 2003. She started her competitive career in ladies' singles. She appeared on the advanced novice level in 2011 and moved up to the junior level by the 2014–2015 season. During her singles career, she spent some time training in Russia.

2015–16 season

In 2015, Lagouge began considering switching to ice dancing. Her family contacted Muriel Zazoui, who suggested Corentin Rahier as a potential partner. After a successful tryout, the skaters decided to train together in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. They placed 7th at the French Junior Championships in February 2016.

2016–17 season

Lagouge/Rahier received two ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments; they placed 6th in

Saint-Gervais-les-Bains Saint-Gervais-les-Bains () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, southeastern France. The village is best known for tourism and has been a popular holiday destination since the early 1900s. It has of p ...

, France, and 4th in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Slovenia. They were awarded the junior silver medal at the

NRW Trophy The NRW Trophy (also known as the NRW Summer Trophy or NRW Autumn Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia and since 2007, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eislauf ...

and gold at the French Junior Championships. They placed 8th in the short dance, 11th in the free dance, and 11th overall at the 2017 World Junior Championships in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

, Taiwan.

2017–18 season

In September 2017, Lagouge/Rahier won the bronze medal at the

ISU Junior Grand Prix in Austria The ISU Junior Grand Prix in Austria is an international figure skating competition. Sanctioned by the International Skating Union, it is held in the autumn in some years as part of the JGP series. Medals may be awarded in the disciplines of men's ...

. They withdrew from JGP Croatia; Lagouge fractured her hand during a practice before the free dance and returned to Lyon for an operation.

2018–19 season

Rahier retired from the sport in November 2018, leaving Lagouge without a partner. Arnaud Caffa soon contacted her. After trying out together in Lyon in late November and again in Paris in December 2018, he moved to Lyon at the end of January 2019 to begin their partnership.

2019–20 season

Lagouge/Caffa made their competitive debut in September 2019, placing tenth at the

2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial The 2019 CS Nepela Memorial, formerly known as the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, was held in September 2019 at the Ondrej Nepela Arena. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' ...

in Slovakia. In November, they won bronze at the

Open d'Andorra The Open d'Andorra is an international figure skating competition held annually in Canillo, Andorra, usually in November. Medals may be awarded in Single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dancing on the senior, junior, and novice leve ...

and placed sixth at the Bosphorus Cup in Turkey. They were sixth at the French Championships.

2020–21 season

Many events were cancelled in the 2020–21 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Lagouge/Caffa competed at only one international event, the

2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held in September 2020 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. On August ...

, where they placed fourth. They were coached by

Olivier Schoenfelder Olivier Schoenfelder (born 30 November 1977) is a French retired ice dancer and coach. With partner Isabelle Delobel, he is the 2008 World champion, the 2007 European and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion. Career Schoenfelder began skating ...

, Muriel Zazoui,

Marien de la Asuncion Marien de La Asuncion (born 6 February 1989) is a French retired ice dancer who competes for Japan with skating partner Emi Hirai. Together, they are four-time Japanese national silver medalists and have competed at four Four Continents Champio ...

, Neil Brown, and

Emi Hirai Emi Hirai ( ja, 平井絵己; born October 14, 1986) is a Japanese former ice dancer. With skating partner Marien de la Asuncion, she is a four-time Japanese national silver medalist and has competed at four Four Continents Championships. Per ...

, France.

2021–22 season

Lagouge/Caffa decided to train under Maurizio Margaglio and Neil Brown in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland. In November, they took silver at the 2021

in Germany and finished tenth at the

2021 CS Warsaw Cup The 2021 CS Warsaw Cup was held on November 17–20 in Warsaw, Poland. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entries The Inter ...

in Poland. They placed fifth at the French Championships in December. In February, they won gold at the International Challenge Cup in the Netherlands.

2022–23 season

Lagouge/Caffa won silver at the Britannia Cup in August, bronze at the Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur in October, and silver at the

in November. They made their

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

debut at the

2022 Grand Prix of Espoo The 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo was the sixth event in the 2022–23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo from November 25-27. It was the repl ...

in Finland, placing 10th.

Programs

With Caffa

With Rahier

Competitive highlights

''GP:

; CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

Ice dancing with Caffa

Ice dancing with Rahier

Ladies' singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lagouge, Natacha 2000 births French female ice dancers Living people Sportspeople from Strasbourg French people of Russian descent 21st-century French women Competitors at the 2023 Winter World University Games Medalists at the 2023 Winter World University Games Universiade medalists in figure skating Universiade bronze medalists for France