'This is our choice to be here'
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are so close to a World title, they can taste it. And that's the fuel that drives the Canadian ice dancers to keep extending their careers.
This time, the decision came so much more easily, so much sooner. Then again, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier had quite the compelling set of reasons to extend this dance for at least one more season — and perhaps beyond that.
So it was, after some downtime in June after a whirlwind couple of months on the touring circuit (Stars On Ice in both Japan and Canada, plus Fantasy On Ice in Japan), that the Canadian ice dancers returned to their Ice Dance Elite training base in Toronto at the beginning of July, full of inspiration for what comes next in a partnership that has now spanned an even dozen seasons.
One doesn’t have to search far to find the trigger, the ultimate motivation to keep going. It was right there for all to see back in March at the Bell Centre in Montreal, when Gilles and Poirier won the free dance at the 2024 World Championships. Even though it wasn’t enough to topple World champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, the seed was surely planted in their minds right then and there. As it was phrased in this space on that very night: “How could they possibly stop now.”
Soon enough, they — and we — had the answer to that query.
“I would say it was quicker than we took last year. Last year, we really had to think about what we wanted to do. Is this something that we wanted to commit to?” the 32-year-old Gilles said during a Zoom call. “We had a taste of winning at Worlds, but we obviously didn’t capture that (title). Having the opportunity and knowing that it’s possible intrigued us as well. I think there’s a lot of things, but we also do feel well, we still feel healthy and we feel inspired. I think that was part of it last year, we felt a little less inspired to get back at it. Whereas this year, I feel like there’s a bit more excitement and a bit more drive. Not that last year we didn’t have drive; I just think there’s a bit more fuel to come back and to be number one.
“That’s our main goal. If we’re going to continue, we want to win, and having our confidence boosted a little bit at Worlds really helped. And just knowing that our team is still behind us … they still feel creative and willing to push us. If they’re still believing in us and are pushing us, I feel like maybe we can still grow with them. I feel like that’s half of the reason that we’re still going.”
The other half might simply be this. More than two years after most of us thought they might skate off into the sunset after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where they finished far off the podium in seventh place — only one spot better than their Olympic debut four years earlier in PyeongChang, South Korea — Gilles and Poirier dug a little deeper inside themselves and found something else. Something that has made them better than they ever have been, and it has been their veritable fountain of youth.
“Most importantly, we’re better performers. In the end, we’re in a competition and we have to skate really well, but we have to make other people believe that. And that’s because we’re in a judged sport and because we’re performing (for them),” the 32-year-old Poirier said in agreeing with that sentiment. “We love to skate and we love to dissect skating and work on our skating. It’s something we give attention to when we train, but I think we’ve grown so much as performers and in our confidence in ourselves. That’s what’s made the biggest difference in terms of our results the last few years.”
Said Gilles: “When you feel strong and capable, you kind of have this ‘why not’ mentality. If you are unsure, you kind of question things, but by having this confidence and strength, it gives us opportunity to see what we can do. And that’s why we continue.”
The season that followed the Olympic year, Gilles and Poirier decided to dip their toes back into the competitive waters, with their mindset not venturing behind that campaign. It turned out to be the most wonderful of seasons, with a pair of Grand Prix triumphs, their first-ever Grand Prix Final victory, and a bronze-medal finish at 2023 Worlds in Saitama, Japan. It was more of the same last season, culminating in their first gold medal at the Four Continents Championship and the breakthrough silver medal in Montreal.
They’ve spoken previously about the comfort the “one season at a time” approach has given them, and Gilles reiterated that point again during our latest conversation. Simply put, it’s something that just works for them.
“It makes a big difference. We’re not young anymore and we know realistically in life, things could change so quickly,” she said. “It’s easier for us to continue by not putting that pressure (on us) of a four-year cycle. That’s our perspective. And our work ethic, too … this is our choice to be here. We’re not locked in for four years. It’s a bit freeing.”
Perhaps it is why, when you ask if the return for another season means the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics are clearly in their sights, they hesitate to go there just yet (Gilles shakes her head at the mere suggestion of it).
“It probably makes the most logical sense (to wait on that decision),” explains Poirier. “Even with this (past) year, even though we felt very motivated and you felt like you were ready to do the season, it was always contingent on showing up on the ice and feeling fit and strong and being interested in what we were doing. I’ll say I’d be surprised if we got to July next year and said ‘nothing left in the tank, that’s it.’ But I also think we’re not in a place to be putting pressure on ourselves and thinking ‘this is the prep for the Olympics now, this is the start of it.’
“I don’t think our brains are in that space necessarily. So we’re not putting that pressure on ourselves, but I also think I’d be surprised if we got to that space in a year’s time and it felt like the end. This is also contingent on what is going on in our lives and those kinds of things, but I think we have a longer perspective on those things now … those are things we put at the forefront, and if those things allow us to skate, then that’s great.”
Of course, those who know Gilles’ story know that one of those “things” — and a scary one at that — reared its head shortly that Grand Prix Final triumph in 2022, when she learned she had contracted ovarian cancer (something she chose not to share until a few months after 2023 Worlds). Everything involved with that, and the perpetual anxiety that surrounds such a diagnosis, weighed on her heading into this past season.
“Last year was hard. I can speak for myself in saying I wasn’t as strong as I was the previous year,” she said. “It really took me until basically Worlds to be at my max capacity again. I physically felt like I was not there. So last year felt a bit more like a struggle.”
Today, she’ll tell you, the light in that area of her life is brighter than ever.
“It’s great. I’m at the point where I’m starting to extend my doctor’s appointments, which is great. So my health is good,” she said. “My doctor was very happy with everything. I’m thrilled to be able to be back to full strength and not have to think about it as much. Every time I go to do things, I’m not as nervous … I feel like that ‘what if’ mentality isn’t there as much and that’s a big relief.”
All of this has given Gilles the opportunity to help raise awareness about something she calls “a silent cancer.” And she’s gained a new community of kindred spirits with whom to share stories about their various journeys.
“I just feel like I’ve found a little bit of a community with the people that have messaged me and reached out. It makes me happy knowing that with my speaking out, we’ve having the opportunity to vocalize ovarian cancer,” she explained. “Again, it’s a silent cancer. So again, any time we can have an opportunity to talk about it, I’m thrilled to do it because there’s not enough research behind it yet. That’s what has made me so passionate about continuing to talk about it … that’s really where waves can start, by using your voice. It’s been pretty special to hear other people’s stories, and also sad. I’m the lucky one. But I also hear good stories, too. It’s really fulfilling that I can do that and talk about it and have a real community of people.”
No doubt, it’s another thing that keeps her — and by extension, her partner — grateful that they can still do what they love to do on the ice, and eagerly share it with everyone who shows up to watch them. They have already put together a new free dance for the coming season, though they’re not ready to share anything about it just yet. In their minds, it still needs a little bit more time to breathe and grow before they make the big reveal.
“It just gives us time to really process it, too, and figure it out … at this point, we really don’t have our storytelling down yet and how we want to create it,” she said. “For us to sit down and actually establish what it is … it makes more sense not to label it yet, and then have it not be what we think it is.”
Added Poirier: “The more that you perform the routine, the more you see the structure of the program and sometimes things change, and you need adjustments and things like that. For us, it allows us that time to let the program really marinate and see how it’s making us feel and what we really want to put out. And that takes some time.”
While their new rhythm dance isn’t quite complete, Gilles admits “we’re both really excited about it.” The theme for next season is “Social Dances and Styles of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s,” and it’s a broad spectrum that offers a wide variety of choice. Although these thoughts from Poirier might give you a hint about what era their version of it might end up landing.
“In the context of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, we really found in doing the research, the quality of the music and recording and all of that changes so much over that time. The ’70s music is just better recorded and sounds so much fuller. I think you’re going to see a lot of teams go with the ’70s because it’s better recorded and it’s just more familiar to the general audience, and all of us just generally know (more) about the music from the ’70s,” he said. “With the rhythm dance, it’s just finding a balance between doing something familiar and doing something a little bit unexpected, but not so unexpected that people think that does not fit the theme … so really wanted to give it a lot of thought to make sure that we worked on something that we found really interesting and met the criteria.”
Though their competitive season won’t start until Skate Canada International at the end of October in Halifax, Gilles and Poirier feel they’re much more ahead of the game in terms of being ready for the season (they’re also scheduled to do the Grand Prix of Finlandia in November) than they were a year ago. Though it might not seem like much in terms of time, the Canadian duo got started on new material about two or three weeks sooner this summer (their show commitments ran longer in 2023).
Gilles, for one, can feel the difference already. And she believes it’s something that can help she and Poirier take that final step to the top of the podium when 2025 Worlds at held in Boston in March.
“It’s basically a two-week difference, really, or maybe 2-3 weeks. But we weren’t prepared last year. We didn’t have music choices cut and ready to go. This year, we’re way more prepared. I think having two or three more weeks of preparations and stability in how are bodies are … it brings more confidence going into the season, knowing that we can attack and not go back,” she said. “That helped us when we went in to do the (2022-23) season with Evita and our Latin rhythms, that we had so much confidence in the training we had before the season. We were super strong, and I think keeping that kind of mindset going into this year will really help us. And knowing that we are capable of being at the top … I think we weren’t happy with how last year finished, and that’s going to really make us fight for this year.”
Make no mistake about it, though. What happened in Montreal was a memory for a lifetime. Not only did Gilles and Poirier produce one of those magical skating “moments” in the free dance, but they did it in front of pretty much everyone who matters in each of their lives.
“More than anything for me, what made (Worlds) so special was how many of our people were there. So many friends, so many family members, so many people flew out and drove out to watch us, and that’s what made it really cool,” said Poirier. “Of course, it’s always really nice to compete at home, with a home crowd and that kind of energy in the rink and all that. But for me, it was the personal side that was more important. That was probably the competition where I had the most people come and watch in my entire life, and that was really cool.”
Gilles tells a similar story about the whole experience, which was witnessed by her husband, Nathan Kelly, and her entire family. That part of it, she savoured for every second it lasted. But beyond the standing ovation and the magic they created, there was another nagging thought. One that has truly taken some time for her to reconcile in her head.
But she’s also learned to appreciate the other side of it as well.
“I had weird mixed feelings about Worlds. It took me a long time to digest not winning. I’ve never really felt that before, because in that moment I felt that we should have won,” she explained. “And then when it didn’t happen, it made me doubt … like, will it ever happen? But no one could ever take away that moment that we created on the ice. I always have to go back to that. That was for me, that was for Paul, that was for our coaches (Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs), that was for us. And in our hearts, we won. That’s what we have to continue to tell ourselves, because we created a moment and that, we’ll have forever.”
Here’s another thought I often have when I think about after moments like that one in Montreal. That we’re getting three (and possibly four) more years of those moments from this ever creative duo than we maybe thought we would. All of this feels like bonus time for those of us who love and appreciate what they present on the ice, and everything that goes into making it happen.
Does it surprise them that they’re still going, three seasons beyond what seemed to be their targeted finish line? Here’s how Poirier puts it:
“I feel like if you had asked me 10 or 15 years ago, I’d be surprised. But I’d say pretty much since PyeongChang, we’ve sort of been very open to saying yes to things. We’ve been very lucky that skating has provided us with a lot of opportunities. The last five, six years, not just competitively but with shows and non-skating related things,” he said. “I think we both feel that skating brings a lot of richness to our lives — personally, inspirationally, relationally. So as opportunities arise and doors are opened for us, we’ve been choosing to say yes and it’s really just been that.
“Since PyeongChang, I really didn’t have a date in mind (to stop), at least personally. As far as having a skating plan laid out, we really wanted to do the Olympics in Beijing for sure. But we really didn’t have an end date in mind. We were just open to, how are you feeling, what’s exciting for us right now, we’ll go in that direction. That’s just kind of the way we’ve been proceeding.”
There will be a final act at some point, though. Given the chance to script a dream ending to their careers, Gilles and Poirier came up with these thoughts.
“I don’t know if I have a specific ending in mind. Skating has been so good to me. I don’t see anything specific happening that would change that feeling I have,” said Poirier. “That feeling that I’ve gotten so much out of skating, that’s the story in the end.”
Gilles, however, came up with an even grander thought.
“Olympic champions, but also the most Googled, YouTubed athletes for our originality. I want kids for years and years to be able to look back at our body of work and realize that ‘wow, these guys were really ahead of their time for a long time,’” she said. “And we never really strive for that. We just strive for what moves ourselves. But we want to be remembered more for our body of work over the years. I think that’s pretty special, our uniqueness.”
A shameful decision
I’m sure the subhead above offers up a rather emphatic clue as to what the final section of this column is all about. I refer, of course, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling on Friday that denied Skate Canada’s appeal of the Team Event results at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. You know, the ones where the math-deficient International Skating Union decided to keep Russia in the bronze medal position, one point ahead of Canada. It was a bit of mathematical wizardry that defied simple logic (we got into it in a big way in this space several months back, if you want to read the thought process, if we can call it that, that went into this decision. And how easily it could have been corrected to, you know, do the right thing).
But oh, no. The CAS stunningly decided to back this load of crap, and so the country (officially the Russian Olympic Committee in Beijing) that lost its gold medal because one of its skaters, Kamila Valieva, flunked a doping test in the months leading up to the 2022 Winter Games, gets rewarded with a bronze medal that, quite frankly, it doesn’t give two shits about (the Russian Federation filed multiple appeals with the CAS to get back the gold, all of which were denied). So, ISU, how thrilled do think they are to get handed the silly little consolation prize you decided they deserved? Canada, on the other hand, would be over the moon to accept those shiny bronze medals. But no, let’s piss off two countries at once and call it a day.
My initial reaction to all of this was, rather pointed, shall we say (and if you’ve read this far, you know it hasn’t softened by even an ounce). And by my standards, it’s a tweet that drew a huge pile of reaction. Most of it supportive, some of it on the delusional side, to say the least. It was also galling to read the ISU release on the decision in it and see lines like this:
“The ISU is thankful that these dedicated athletes can finally be properly recognized and receive the medals they rightfully deserve.”
(well, they got that two-thirds right).
“The ISU remains firmly committed to promoting safe and clean sport.”
(excuse me while I stifle a rather loud guffaw. So tell me how presenting medals to a team that featured a skater now in the midst of a four-year ban from the sport for a doping infraction reinforces that point. I’ll wait).
A special ceremony will be held next Wednesday (Aug. 7) at the Paris Olympics to present the gold (United States) and silver (Japan) medals in a plaza near the iconic Eiffel Tower. The Russians? Well, they won’t be there since they’re banned from the Summer Games because of their invasion of Ukraine. And doesn’t that say a whole hell of a lot about this. Start a war? You’re not welcome here anymore. But a doping infraction? Hey, we can still give you these bronze medals. Are we still good?
Really, you can’t make any of this stuff up. Quite frankly, it’s that absurd. But sadly for a group of Canadian skaters who deserved much better, such is the world they reside in these days. And isn’t that all a little sad.