Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier have once again claimed gold on home soil, finishing on top of the ice dance program at Skate Canada International.
The pair, skating in a competition for the first time since Gilles shared her ovarian cancer diagnosis in May, had a score of 131.46 in the free dance for a total score of 219.01.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really thrilled,B次元官网网址� said Gilles. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 taken a long time for us to get to this moment in our career and I think weB次元官网网址檙e really starting to enjoy each moment we step out onto that ice. I think we believe in ourselves just a little bit more.B次元官网网址�
Great BritainB次元官网网址檚 Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who had the audience clapping along to their B次元官网网址淩ockyB次元官网网址� themed program, finished just over five points behind the Canadians in the free dance to end up second overall.
LithuaniaB次元官网网址檚 Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius rounded out the unchanged top three from FridayB次元官网网址檚 competition.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been a long road for us, especially teaming up as we had our different careers,B次元官网网址� said Ambrulevicius. B次元官网网址淟ong work and dreams do come true.B次元官网网址�
Gilles and Poirier are the first team to win four consecutive Skate Canada gold medals since fellow Canadians Victor Kraatz and Shae-Lynn Bourne. Kratz and Bourne won five straight Skate Canada medals from 1994-95.
B次元官网网址淐anada has such a strong legacy of ice dance,B次元官网网址� said Poirier. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been so inspired by so many teams that came before us and we owe, in part our success, to all those teams who always pushed us to be better throughout our careers.B次元官网网址�
Fellow Canadians Maxime Deschamps and Deanna Stellato-Dudek took home gold in the pairs, with both exuberantly celebrating after finishing their free skating program and their overall score of 214.64.
Their early single-Axel, double-Axel combo brought the Canadian crowd to its feet.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been more than one season that weB次元官网网址檝e been waiting to have a check mark beside every box,B次元官网网址� said Stellato-Dudek. B次元官网网址淛ust really pleased we can show what weB次元官网网址檙e able to do in practice in competition.B次元官网网址�
Kaori Sakamoto continued her momentum, and dominance, in the womenB次元官网网址檚 competition at Skate Canada International to claim gold on Saturday.
The reigning world champion scored a season-best score of 151 in the free skate program to finish first in the competition and overall with a total score of 226.13.
B次元官网网址淭oday I was able to perform exactly how I wanted to perform, so IB次元官网网址檓 really relieved and also very satisfied with the performance overall,B次元官网网址� she said through a translator.
Sakamoto celebrated her winning result alongside her coach by pretending to eat a giant stuffed piece of sushi given to her by a fan from the crowd.
Chaeyon Kim, 16, of South Korea finished second overall in her Grand Prix debut.
B次元官网网址淚 had an ankle injury last week so I was worried, so even though the program wasnB次元官网网址檛 perfect I hope the results are good,B次元官网网址� she said.
SakamotoB次元官网网址檚 Japan teammate Rino Matsuike rounded out the top three, the same order as FridayB次元官网网址檚 short program.
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Madeline Schizas finished fourth overall (189.91) after a dramatic rise up the rankings from eighth due to the strength of her second-place free skate program.
Schizas said her short program score on the first day of the event was the lowest score sheB次元官网网址檚 ever posted outside of competing as a junior.
B次元官网网址淚 was kind of upset yesterday,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 went and looked at skating scores and that was (my) lowest score ever.
B次元官网网址淪o I wasnB次元官网网址檛 thrilled but I knew I could rally today B次元官网网址� the error I made yesterday was pretty fluky.B次元官网网址�
Grand Prix 2022-23 silver medallist Sota Yamamoto won gold in the menB次元官网网址檚 singles, while favoured South Korean skater Junhwan Cha entered the free skate second overall but fell several times, dropping him to ninth overall.
Canadians Wesley Chiu (221.54), Conrad Orzel (213.12) and Aleksa Rakic (189.38) finished in seventh, 10th and 12th overall respectively.
