Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier achieved a historic milestone at the Skate Canada International figure skating competition on Sunday by becoming the first ice dance pair to secure six consecutive gold medals at the event, earning a total score of 202.89. They narrowly edged out Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius, who finished with 200.92. Meanwhile, Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha claimed the bronze with a score of 192.41.
Gilles and Poirier led after the rhythm dance on Saturday with a score of 85.38, surpassing Reed and Ambrulevicius who had 80.89. Despite the Lithuanians scoring 120.03 in the free dance on Sunday, it was not enough to close 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 at 236.48 and Aleksa Rakic in 12th place with 216.90 points. The event was won by Ilia Malinin from the United States with a total score of 333.81.
Malinin set a new world record for the free skate, maintaining his unbeaten streak for two years and solidifying his position as a top contender for Olympic gold at the Milano-Cortina Games. His flawless performance included landing six quads and a triple axel to the music from “Les Bal des Folles,” a French supernatural thriller, leaving him 76.6 points ahead of Aleksandr Selevko, who finished in second place.
Malinin’s free-skate score of 228.97 exceeded the previous record of 224.92 set by Nathan Chen at the 2019 Grand Prix Final. Selevko secured second place with 257.21 points, while Kao Miura from Japan claimed the bronze with 253.69 points.
Malinin has maintained his winning streak since November 2023, with his recent victory marking his third consecutive U.S. championship title. The Skate Canada International is part of the Grand Prix series, with upcoming events including the NHK Trophy in Japan, Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., and the Finlandia Trophy, which is the final opportunity to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.