Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier secured an unprecedented achievement at the Skate Canada International figure skating competition by clinching their sixth consecutive gold medal. The duo scored a total of 202.89 points, making them the first ice dance pair to achieve this feat at the event. Their closest competitors, Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius, finished with a score of 200.92, while Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha claimed the bronze with 192.41 points.
After leading in Saturday’s rhythm dance with a score of 85.38, Gilles and Poirier maintained their position, edging out Reed and Ambrulevicius who scored 80.89. Despite the Lithuanians earning 120.03 points in the free dance on Sunday, it was not enough to close the gap with Gilles and Poirier, who scored 117.51.
In the men’s free dance, Roman Sadovsky emerged as the top Canadian, finishing in seventh place with 236.73 points, closely followed by Stephen Gogolev with 236.48 points and Aleksa Rakic in 12th place with 216.90 points. Ilia Malinin from the United States claimed victory with a total score of 333.81 points.
Malinin shattered the world record in the free skate, maintaining his undefeated streak for over two years and solidifying his status as the favorite to win Olympic gold at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Games. His flawless performance included landing six quads and a triple axel, leaving him with a remarkable lead of 76.6 points ahead of second-place Aleksandr Selevko.
Malinin’s free-skate score of 228.97 surpassed the previous record under the current scoring system, set by Nathan Chen in 2019. Selevko secured second place with 257.21 points, while Kao Miura from Japan claimed the bronze with 253.69 points.
Malinin’s exceptional record includes consecutive world titles and victories at the Grand Prix Finals. The Skate Canada International marks the third event in the Grand Prix series, with upcoming competitions including the NHK Trophy in Japan, Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., and the Finlandia Trophy, offering a final chance to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.