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It has been a long and winding road for Canadian skaters Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who have been an ice dance team for the past decade.
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Their preferred destination after all that trip would, of course, be the top of the podium at the Beijing Olympics in February, and Saturday’s result in Vancouver is an early indication that they will indeed be in the medal mix at those Games. .
Skating to music from the Beatles classic Long and Winding Road, Gilles and Poirier went gold at Skate Canada International. His score of 210.97 points eclipsed that of Italian silver medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (200.05) and Spanish bronze medalists Olivia Smart and Adrián Díaz (192.83).
“It’s every little part of our journey,” Gilles said, when asked about his choice of music. “I think every step, every competition, every program has got us to where we are now and we really want to end this season at the Olympics celebrating what has gotten us (there). … I think we really have to celebrate what we’ve accomplished, so the long and winding road is really what we’ve done throughout our entire career and where we are now. “
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They have accomplished a lot, it should be noted. Since joining in 2011, they have won 11 Grand Prix medals, which now include consecutive golds at Skate Canada International. In eight trips to the world, he has been top-10 seven times, crowned by his bronze medal last March in Sweden. They also won two silver and one bronze at the prestigious Four Continents event and finished fifth in two Grand Prix finals.
They weren’t at their best in Vancouver, but it was more than enough given the lack of depth in the field of 10 teams. They were the first in the rhythm show on Friday and, as such, they skated the last in the free dance. It was unfamiliar territory and could have been a contributing factor.
“We both thought it was not our best skating, but again we are trying to work on our nerves because we are not used to skating last in free dance and being first after the short program,” Gilles said. “We really need to learn to manage those nerves. But again, I think we are very proud and to be in front of our Canadian fans again was a real blast. We really miss them. “
Two other Canadian ice dance teams were on the field, including Marjorie Lajoie from Boucherville, Que., And Zachary Lagha from St-Hubert, Que., Finished sixth and Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker from Langley, BC were 10th.
Reference-torontosun.com