MILAN (Italy) February 9, 2026 — It was a return to action at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Monday as the first segment of the individual events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games got underway with skaters from 15 different countries hitting the ice for the rhythm dance.

Skating first for Canada was Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac. The Montreal-based duo debuted their new rhythm dance and delivered a strong skate, scoring 74.35 points. With this performance, Lauriault and Le Gac currently sit 15th overall, qualifying for the free dance which will take place on Wednesday.

Next up were Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha. The duo had the chance to warm up a little bit earlier this week competing for Team Canada in the free dance segment of the team event on Saturday.

They posted a score of 79.66 with their routine set to a quattro of upbeat rock songs that really got the crowd going, including 2 Unlimited’s Get Ready for this and The Bouncing Souls’ ¡Olé!.

“It’s always fun hearing that the crowd loves our choice of music,” said Lajoie. “We could hear it today, that was nice.”

This is the pair’s second Olympic appearance, after competing for Canada at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Lajoie and Lagha find themselves in ninth place after the rhythm dance segment and will look to improve their standing with a strong showing in the free dance.

Last to skate for Canada were three-time Olympians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. They, too, had the advantage of having skated in the team event, allowing them to sharpen their performance ahead of Monday’s competition.

“I think we were really in the zone today,” said Poirier. “We kind of had our blinders on. I think it allowed us to skate really present. We came into this event not satisfied with our performance a few days ago and that really allowed us to sharpen our focus.”

Gilles and Poirier earned a season’s best 86.18 points with this skate and currently sit in third place behind France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (90.18) and USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates (89.72).

Tomorrow, Stephen Gogolev will be in action in the men’s short program starting at 12:30 p.m. ET., while ice dance medals will be awarded on Wednesday.

For full results, click here.