Gilles & Poirier in Podium Contention at ISU 2024 World Figure Skating Championships

MONTREAL, CANADA (March 22, 2024) – The ice dance competition at the 2024 ISU World Figure Skating Championship saw all three Canadian teams finishing in the top 10 in the rhythm dance on Friday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Two-time World’s bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are currently sitting in podium contention in third.

Gilles of Toronto, Ont., and Poirier of Unionville, Ont., delivered a fantastic performance that had the crowd on their feet, to score an 86.51 for their rhythm dance.

“We really did our job today, and I think that everything we’ve been working on since Four Continents really showed today,” said Gilles who entered the competition with Poirier as the reigning ISU Four Continents Champions. “I’m just really proud of how we handled this moment, because it can be so scary skating at home with all the expectation, but we had a blast out there.”

Sitting not far behind in the standings in fifth are Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., whose performance saw them finish the day with a new season’s best score of 82.30.

“This feels even better than usual because I missed more than a month of training and just had one month to get ready for this competition,” said Lajoie who was recovering from a concussion. “To do a season’s best, knowing that, shows that we were very strong mentally and I’m very proud of us.”

It was a tougher day for Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen of Montreal, Que., who came into the competition as the silver medallists from the ISU Four Continents Championships. A stumble by Fournier Beaudry during their twizzle sequence dropped their score to 75.79, leaving them in 10^th place overall.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA, the reigning World Champions, earned a season’s best score of 90.08 to finish first. Last year’s silver medallists, Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy sit second with a score of 87.52.

The women’s free program closed out the competition and saw Kaori Sakamoto of Japan capture her third-consecutive World title. Sakamoto earned a score of 222.96 for a 10-point lead over Isabeau Levito of the USA who took silver with a score of 212.16. Chaeyeon Kim from the Republic of Korea took bronze with a total score of 203.59.

Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., finished the competition in 18^th place with a total score of 171.78 after a clean performance, but with some downgraded jumps and technical elements.

“I really enjoyed performing for the Canadian audience. I was overwhelmed by the support even though it didn’t go the way I wanted it to today, and for that I’m really thankful,” said Schizas.

Competition wraps up on Saturday with the free dance portion of the ice dance competition, and the men’s free skate.

For full results please click here.