Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are facing a significant challenge at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France. The duo from Toronto, Gilles and Poirier of Unionville, Ont., ended up last among six teams in Friday’s rhythm dance, following an unusual fall when Poirier’s foot hit the boards. “It’s always disappointing […]
Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are facing a significant challenge at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France.
The duo from Toronto, Gilles and Poirier of Unionville, Ont., ended up last among six teams in Friday’s rhythm dance, following an unusual fall when Poirier’s foot hit the boards.
“It’s always disappointing to make major mistakes, but we need to concentrate on tomorrow’s performance. I believe when we return home, we’ll focus on the positives from this event — there were definitely some areas where we improved,” Poirier stated.
“When we are back home, we’ll assess our training to ensure we are better prepared to avoid errors in competition as we move into the latter part of the season.”
Gilles and Poirier, who were Grand Prix Final champions in 2022 and earned bronze in 2023, ended with a score of 72.15 points.
Prior to this event, the pair was ranked third in the Grand Prix standings after winning their fifth consecutive Skate Canada International title and securing a silver medal at the Finlandia Trophy.
WATCH | Ice dancers Gilles, Poirier 6th after latter falls:
After a fall by Paul Poirier in the rhythm dance program, he and his dance partner Piper Gilles scored 72.15 at the Grand Prix Final in Gernoble, France Friday.
Marjorie Lajoie from Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha from Saint-Hubert, Que., were the highest-ranked Canadian team going into Saturday’s free dance, finishing fourth in the rhythm dance with a score of 77.73 points.
“We are really pleased; it felt great,” Lagha commented. “We just enjoyed ourselves. We prefer delivering our best performance and receiving any score, rather than feeling we didn’t perform well while achieving a high score.”
The current world champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates from the United States, took first place, followed closely by Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, and Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson.
WATCH | Lajoie and Lagha 4th entering free dance Saturday:
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada scored 77.73 after the rhythm dance program and sit in four at the Grand Prix final in Grenoble, France.
World champion Ilia Malinin made significant progress toward defending his figure skating Grand Prix Final title after establishing a solid 12-point lead in the short program on Friday.
The 20-year-old American skater executed a quadruple flip, a triple axel, and a quad lutz-triple toeloop combination in a near-perfect performance to achieve a score of 105.43, just shy of his personal record.
Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama from Japan was considerably behind in second place with 93.49 after falling on his initial quad lutz, while performing to “The Sound of Silence.”
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov only entered the event because France’s Adam Siao Him Fa withdrew due to an ankle injury. He took advantage of the opportunity, landing two quads to score 91.26 while skating to the “Dune” soundtrack.
Competing in his hometown, France’s Kevin Aymoz had a disastrous start, falling on his first two jumps and finishing last with a score of 68.82.
WATCH | Malinin builds 12-point lead with near-flawless short program:
Ilia Malinin scored 105.43 to take a commanding lead after the short program at the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France Friday.
Additionally, Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin successfully defended their Grand Prix Final title in the pairs category. The German pair faced an initial setback when Hase put her hand down upon landing a jump combination but recovered to finish ahead of the competition with a total score of 218.10.
Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara managed to stay in second place with 206.71, fending off strong competition from Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, who secured third with 205.78.
“This time was definitely much tougher than last year,” Hase remarked. “Last year, we came without any expectations, while this year, being the defending champions surely brought more pressure, so we are just really thrilled that we succeeded.”
They are the first pair to successfully defend the Grand Prix Final title since 2012, a feat accomplished previously by fellow Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy.
WATCH | Hase, Volodin retains Grand Prix Final title:
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of U.S. scored 87.73 and lead after the rhythm dance skate at the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France.