The French pairs team of Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bernadis overcame the shock of a razor attack on Bernandis at his hotel in 2000 to win the Bronze Medal after the free skate at the World Championships in Nice, France.

Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bernadis

Stephane suffered an eight-inch cut delivered by an unknown assailant who appeared at his hotel room door. He was given a pain reliever before he skated and showed no obvious difficulty from the injury.

By finishing third, Abitbol and Bernadis became France's first World pairs medalists since 1932.

In 2002, Sarah suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in practice at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, which required surgery and six months of rehabilitation. The pair returned to competition at Trophee Lalique, finishing second and won Silver at the 2003 European Championships.

They are undefeated as the French National Paris Champions since 1992.

Sarah and Stephane both skated individually before uniting to form a successful pairs team.

Sarah started skating when she was six. She chose ice skating over swimming. Stephane began skating at age eight because of his mother, English skater Donna Davies, a competitive skater.

They started skating together in 1992.

In their spare time, Sarah likes bodybuilding, movies and music. Her passions are tennis racing cars and motorbikes. Stephane enjoys reading, music and movies. His passions are any sport: tennis, swimming, golfing, martial arts.

They are a very determined couple whose technical and artistic originality has earned them fans around the globe.

Personal

Name	Sarah Abitbol
Born	June 8, 1975 in Nantes, France
Hometown	Paris
Home club	Francais Volants
Coach	Jean-Christophe Simond
Choreographer	Tatiana Tarasova

Personal

Name	Stephane Bernadis
Born	Feb. 23, 1974 in Boulogne Billancourt
Hometown	Paris
Home club	Francais Volants
Coach	Jean-Christophe Simond
Choreographer	Tatiana Tarasova