MILAN (Italy) February 11, 2026 — Piper Gilles (Toronto, Ont.) and Paul Poirier (Unionville, Ont.) are Olympic bronze medallists after their dominant performance in the free dance segment at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on Wednesday.

Coming into the free skate sitting in third place, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were within an arm’s reach of a medal and captured it, bringing the audience to tears with their emotional routine inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night and securing a bronze medal. This is the pair’s first Olympic medal.

“Three years ago, when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I don’t think I envisioned this moment,” Gilles said. “I think that’s what’s so amazing about Paul and I. We are people first, athletes second and I think we’ve always led by that.”

“I think it’s a great example for anybody going through any sort of dark time, mental health or health issues, that you can do hard things no matter what,” she added. “You can just get out of bed and keep believing in yourself and keep chasing your dreams, anything can happen.”

They scored a season’s best 131.56 points, bringing their total score to 217.74—also a season’s best. France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (225.82) won gold, with Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates (224.39) taking silver.

“The whole program went by so quickly,” said Poirier. “Piper and I felt so calm today, which was a little bit strange actually, going into a competition of these stakes, but I think our calmness came from being really prepared and I think being able to let go. I think we really allowed ourselves to be vulnerable today. It was just so special.”

Marie-Jade Lauriault (Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que.) and Romain Le Gac (Laval, Que.) were first to skate for Team Canada. They scored 112.83 points with their Egyptian-inspired routine, a strong performance for the pair in their second Olympic appearance and their first with Team Canada, 14th in the standings with an overall score of 187.18.

“It’s a different experience,” said Le Gac after the skate. “The people are really connected to each other. It’s really a nice environment and we’re really grateful and proud at the same time to be with such a big team as Canada.”

Marjorie Lajoie (Boucherville, Que.) and Zachary Lagha (Saint-Hubert, Que.) skated their free program routine set to Nureyev from “The White Crow” for the second time in this competition. Performing in the team event on Saturday, they put up a season’s best 120.90 points.

They nearly managed to beat that season’s best score this time around, falling just short at 120.14 points. However, they did set a season’s best with their overall score of 199.80, finishing in 10th place overall.

“For us the biggest reward is how the public clapped when we ended,” Lagha said. “We go to skate and we want people to feel like it’s not a competition anymore. They’re at La Scala and they’re watching, I don’t know, a pas de deux or something.”

On Friday starting at 1:00 p.m. ET, Canada’s Stephen Gogolev (Toronto, Ont.) will compete in the men’s free program, performing the routine that secured Team Canada’s spot in the final of the team event earlier on this week.

For full results, click here.