Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier achieved a historic milestone at the Skate Canada International competition by becoming the first ice dance duo to secure six consecutive gold medals at the event. They clinched the victory with a total score of 202.89, narrowly surpassing Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius who scored 200.92. Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha claimed the bronze with a score of 192.41.
Leading after the rhythm dance on Saturday with a score of 85.38, Gilles and Poirier maintained their position despite Reed and Ambrulevicius scoring 80.89. In the free dance on Sunday, the Lithuanian pair earned 120.03 points but fell short of closing the gap, as Gilles and Poirier secured 117.51 points.
In the men’s free dance, Roman Sadovsky emerged as the top Canadian finishing in seventh place with a score of 236.73, followed closely by Stephen Gogolev with 236.48 and Aleksa Rakic in 12th place with 216.90. The United States’ Ilia Malinin dominated the event with a total score of 333.81.
Malinin set a new world record for the free skate, reinforcing his two-year unbeaten streak and solidifying his position as the favorite to win gold at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. His remarkable performance, featuring six quads and a triple axel, left him 76.6 points ahead of Aleksandr Selevko, who secured second place.
Malinin’s free-skate score of 228.97 surpassed the previous record of 224.92 set by Nathan Chen in 2019. Selevko finished with 257.21 points, claiming second place, while Kao Miura of Japan took the bronze with 253.69 points.
Malinin’s undefeated streak dates back to November 2023, with notable victories at major championships. Skate Canada International is part of the Grand Prix series, with upcoming events including the NHK Trophy in Japan and Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., leading up to the Grand Prix Final.