Skate Canada International 2024: Gilles and Poirier Make History, Malinin Dominates Men's Event
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada made history by winning their sixth consecutive gold at the Skate Canada International figure skating competition, scoring 202.89. They narrowly beat Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius, who finished with 200.92, while Canada's Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha took bronze with 192.41. Gilles and Poirier led after the rhythm dance on Saturday with 85.38, and despite a strong performance by Reed and Ambrulevicius in the free dance, Gilles and Poirier secured the win with 117.51.
In the men's event, Roman Sadovsky was the top Canadian finishing in seventh place with 236.73, followed closely by Stephen Gogolev with 236.48. Ilia Malinin of the United States won the event with a record-breaking free skate score of 333.81, securing his status as a favorite for the upcoming Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina. Malinin's performance included six quads and a triple axel, setting a new world record for the free skate.
Malinin's dominance in the competition continued his unbeaten streak since November 2023, with victories at the past two world championships and Grand Prix Finals. His remarkable free skate score of 228.97 surpassed the previous record set by Nathan Chen in 2019. Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia finished second with 257.21 points, and Kao Miura of Japan took bronze with 253.69 points.
The Skate Canada International is part of the Grand Prix series, with the NHK Trophy in Japan and Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., coming up next. The Finlandia Trophy will be the final opportunity for skaters to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.