Gilles and Poirier claim ice dance silver at worlds
It was still sinking in for Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. Standing at centre ice in the Bell Centre, the Canadian ice dance pair twirled and saluted to cheers from their home crowd after delivering a breathtaking performance that ultimately earned them silver medals at the world figure skating championships on Saturday.
“I haven’t really fully digested it yet. It still feels like we haven’t done it,” Gilles said. “To be able to just stand there at the end and just embrace all of our friends and family that were here to experience that moment with us was just something I think we can only dream of.”
For Gilles and Poirier it was “a full circle moment” as they recalled competing in their first world championship on home soil in London, Ont., in 2013.
“Ten, 11, 12 years later, we have a very different moment,” Gilles said. “But it’s still something so special, and now we’re closer to the top of the podium.”
Skating to the Wuthering Heights soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Toronto’s Gilles and Poirier of Uniondale, Ont., gave fans goosebumps and posted the best score of the free dance with a season-best 133.17 points.
As they watched the marks come up, Poirier had an astonished look on his face.
“I was exhausted,” he said. “We really gave our everything to the performance.”
They finished with 219.68 total points and twizzled their way up a spot on the podium after placing third in Friday’s rhythm dance. It’s their third medal at the worlds after collecting bronze twice (2021, 2023).
The performance wasn’t enough to dethrone defending champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States. But the ovation and cheers from the crowd, and the silver medals around their necks had the Canadians beaming with pride.
“It was a mix of [exhaustion], of relief that it was done, relief that it had gone well, and joy that it had gone well and joy that we were able to just share a really special moment with that crowd and soak in all of their energy and love,” Poirier said.
Chock and Bates, the 2022 Olympic champions, captured gold with a season-best total score of 222.20 after placing first in the rhythm dance.
Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri claimed bronze, scoring 216.52.