Gilles and Poirier claim gold in Grand Prix
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are once again on top of the podium after crushing the competition in the ice dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Espoo, Finland.
The pair earned a career-best 219.49 points to eclipse the 215.70 they skated to in their gold at Skate Canada International last month. Gilles and Poirier came into the day with the lead after scoring a personal best 87.80 points in the rhythm dance.
“We know that there’s still more of us to give, as the season goes on, but we’re really happy with the development of the program,” Gilles said to ISU Figure Skating following the competition.
Rounding out the podium was America’s Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (202.46 points), and Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis of Finland (191.71 points).
Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus of Canada finished fifth in the same event with 175.63 points. Madeline Schizas was the next-closest to the podium as she finished fifth in the women’s event.
With the first place finish, Gilles and Poirier have claimed a berth in the Grand Prix Final which will take place from December 8-11 in Torino, Italy.
