Canada’s Gilles, Poirier claim silver again at figure skating worlds; Gogolev fourth

PRAGUE —

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are silver medallists once again at the world figure skating championships.

The Canadian ice dancers reached the podium’s second step for a third consecutive season Saturday, scoring 125.07 points in their “Wuthering Heights” routine for a total of 211.52.

Gilles and Poirier also won bronze in 2021 and 2023.

“We’re really satisfied. I think we’re so happy that we chose to come to this event. We had some wonderful performances,” Poirier told reporters in Prague. “We really felt so much energy from the crowd and we have so many just great memories of coming to this event, so we’re really pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in winning our fifth world medal.”

Olympic champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry, a Montreal native now representing France, and Guillaume Cizeron comfortably captured gold with 230.81.

Americans Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik took bronze (209.20) in a field that did not include three-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States.

Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished ninth, while Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac placed 13th.

Gilles and Poirier brought back their successful “Wuthering Heights” free dance from 2023-24 for the world championships. After winning that segment at the 2024 worlds in Montreal, they placed third in Saturday’s free dance.

“It was definitely a challenge today,” Gilles said. “Some moments we were like, ‘Oh boy, we just got to keep it together.

“But you know what? I think we’re so well trained and that’s the challenge that we wanted to do. And I think for us, it was a wonderful moment.”

Gilles and Poirier had skated to Govardo’s cover of “Vincent” throughout the season before worlds, claiming Olympic bronze with a heartfelt performance at last month’s Milan Cortina Winter Games.

“There’s just so much pride when we can wear these medals around our necks, because we just know how much we’ve gotten through to get to these moments,” Gilles said. “When we do accomplish our goals and, I don’t know, fulfil these dreams, I think we just feel so honoured and blessed.”

The world championships marked the end of their 15th season as a duo.

Both 34, Gilles and Poirier have not definitively said whether this season was their last.

“We haven’t looked that far,” Gilles said Saturday, as they get set for show tours with Stars on Ice in Japan and Canada through Victoria Day weekend in May.

Earlier Saturday, Canada’s Stephen Gogolev blocked out the noise and delivered yet another impressive performance to finish fourth in men’s singles.

Fifth after Thursday’s short program, Gogolev scored a personal-best 186.66 in his free skate to “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Sergei Rachmaninov to move up one spot.

Competing at his first world championships, the 21-year-old from Toronto stepped onto the ice with the O2 Arena crowd buzzing after Yuma Kagiyama’s mesmerizing free skate, but still managed a clean program, even if he appeared tight on some jumps.

“Skating after Yuma, you could definitely hear how loud the crowd was. I even had to cover my ears before I got on the ice,” Gogolev said. “As I was getting on ice after Yuma, I think I was a bit lost. Yuma was already exiting the ice and (coach Benoît Richaud) had to actually say, ‘Come on, get on the ice,’ because I was kind of lost.”

Gogolev lifted his total to 281.04 — a score that would have landed him on the podium last year.

Self-proclaimed “Quad God” Ilia Malinin captured his third consecutive world title with 329.40 points, rebounding from a devastating free skate at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Kagiyama won his fourth career silver medal with 306.67, climbing from sixth to second. Japanese teammate Shun Sato took bronze with 288.54.

Gogolev, a child prodigy once seen as Canada’s next big thing before back injuries derailed his trajectory, capped a breakout season that also included a fifth-place finish in his Olympic debut, a national title and a Grand Prix medal.

His fourth place at worlds also secured a second men’s entry for Canada at next year’s championships in Tampere, Finland.

“It was quite a good week, especially setting a personal best,” he said. “I’m really, really happy to end the season this way.”

Canada finished the world championships with two medals after Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud also won bronze in pairs Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2026.

The Canadian Press