Canada’s Gilles and Poirier defend Four Continents gold
2025 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada defended their title at the Four Continents on Saturday, winning their second consecutive gold medal in the ice dance event. USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates settled for silver, their eighth medal at this event, while Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha pocketed the bronze.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier
The three-time World medalists placed first with a new season’s best of 87.22 points in their rhythm dance set to music from The Beach Boys and The Surfaris. They picked up the highest component scores of the group after showing very strong level-four twizzles, rotational lift and level three midline steps.
“We didn’t really expect anything in terms of the score today,” said Gilles. “I think what we expected was that type of performance like we do at home. I think we really had a big mind shift after the Grand Prix Final, and we just kind of had to take a look at what we were doing right and what we were doing wrong. We’ve just found the confidence again in ourselves and I think it really showed today, and we’re very pleased.”
“More than anything, you can’t dwell on things going wrong,” added Poirier. “I think we’ve been skating for long enough together and just in general. We’re know what we are capable of and how to how to come back from any difficulty or setback. So, we didn’t let how the Grand Prix season went change our mindset going into this half of the season.”
The team said they worked a lot on this program after the nationals, aiming to make it bigger and faster, while adding to the character and the style of dance and the movement.
The four-time Canadian champions put out an eloquent and expressive free dance to “Whiter Shade of Pale.” The level-four twizzles were strong, and they also earned a level four on all three lifts and dance spin. They placed second in the free dance with a new season’s best of 131.24 points, and with a total score of 218.46 points, maintained their lead for first place overall.
“We are really proud of our performance,” said Poirier. “We were very present and very much in the moment. We felt the amazing support of the crowd and let that carry us.”
Gilles said they didn’t really feel any pressure coming into this event.
“I think that’s what we feel like when we skate our best,” she explained. “When we don’t put the pressure on ourselves. We kind of just stick to the plan. We try to skate the programs that we would at home and kind of let them flow and I think we really did that at this event. We had a lot of confidence. We had some great practices being here and I think we just, we skated like champions, and I think that’s what we’re really proud of.”
The Canadian champs are looking forward to the World Championships next month in Boston.
“We have a nice chunk of time now to go home, review the programs, see where we still feel like we can expand them,” said Poirier. “To grow upon them, develop the character more, find and squeeze little moments out of the program. So, I think we’re just going to focus on that and really give ourselves the training that we know we need so that we can go into Worlds feeling confident.”
When asked about their close rivalry with Chock and Bates, Poirier said the scores and placements are something they try to actively think about going into competition.
“We’ve been competing against each other for a really long time and there are a lot of other strong couples in the world,” he pointed out. “It’s nice to have that motivation. To know that other people are working hard or pushing the sport forward or pushing themselves, knowing every day that we need to do the same. Having such a deep, strong field is really exciting for us and it makes us all better, and so we’re really happy to be a part of that at the same time.”
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Chock and Bates were entertaining in their “Journey through the Decades” rhythm dance, showing good musicality, connection, and lots of speed across the ice. The twizzles and lift were graded a level four, while the midline and pattern steps were graded a level two and three. The two-time World champions picked up many high grades of execution (GOE) on all elements, particularly the midline steps, and placed second with 86.21 points.
“We had a lot of fun performing this program,” said Chock. “As the season goes on, we just get more and more comfortable and kind of gel into the music a little bit more with every performance. We really have a lot of great memories here in this rink, so we just made one more.”
The three-time Four Continents champions took some time to recover and “amp up” for this event. Bates added that they are trying to focus on the current performances and not think too much about previous titles and medals.
“I think the time for reflecting upon that will be after we retire and we look back,” he said. “Right now, we’re just really focused on the task.”
Chock and Bates gave a stellar and confident free dance to “Take Five,” racking up many high GOEs throughout. All three lifts, twizzles, and dance spin were graded a level four, and the team showed sophisticated footwork throughout. They placed first in this segment with 131.72 points, but with a total score of 217.93, missed the top of the podium by just 0.53 points.
“We feel great! It was such a fun performance,” said Chock. “I felt very present for every moment, and I was really having a lot of fun dancing with Evan.”
“Definitely our best performance of this program to date,” Bates reflected. “I felt like we were dancing and not so consumed with all the technical requirements. We were able to dance and enjoy the music and the atmosphere and the crowd was great. Overall, it was a really, really great experience.”
Bates also agreed with Poirier in regard to his answer on the rivalry.
“I think it’s also good for the audience, you know, the fans of the sport, fans of ice dance, everywhere,” he said. “I think Paul put it lightly when he said we’ve been competing against each other for a long time. It’s been a really long time, since our teenage years, and we’re all in our thirties now. So, it’s been half a lifetime and it’s really incredible, what kind of longevity both teams have had. The respect for one another is really present as well. I think we make each other better and that’s great for the sport.”
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha
Lajoie and Lagha earned a new personal best of 82.86 points, placing third in the rhythm dance. Their entertaining “Austin Powers” routine was highlighted by very good level-four twizzles and rotational lift.
“It feels very good,” said Lagha of the new personal best score. “I feel like we improved our rhythm dance quite a lot since our last international event. It almost feels like it’s not the same, you know?”
“We changed my costume because the previous one was not in the theme of the year,” Lajoie explained. “It was more like the movie theme, not social dance, and we have to follow the rules. Also, it gives a more mature look.”
The 2023 Four Continents bronze medalists put out a powerful and haunting free dance to “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed and “Murky Solitude” by Karl Hugo. Unfortunately, Lajoie lost her balance on the final twizzle which resulted in a level two for her and four for Lagha. Nevertheless, the dance spin and lifts were all graded a level four, and they earned many positive GOEs throughout to place third in this segment and overall (118.18/201.04).
“It was okay. There was a mistake in the twizzle,” Lagha pointed out. “We trained very hard to come here and I think it’s still a good week, a good experience, and we did well. It’s also difficult to skate in the evening in Asia. We were very tired, and it was a challenge to skate today, but we did it.”
“Today was a challenge for sure,” Lajoie agreed. “I hate doing mistakes and I did a mistake today. So I’m not very happy about my performance, but in general, it was a very, very, very good week. We did a very good rhythm dance, and all the practice was super good. So, I think overall it was good. Mistakes happen. It’s just very upsetting.”
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
USA’s Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko displayed fast level-four twizzles in the rhythm dance, picking up a level four on the rotational lift and level three on the midline steps. The two-time Four Continents bronze medalists placed fourth with 79.30 points for their fun rhythm dance to music by Etta James and Little Richard.
“We are pretty happy with how we skated today,” said Carreira. “I think it is one of our best rhythm dances this year. We wanted to skate a bit more free because we felt like everything was very tight at nationals.”
“This rhythm dance was definitely a goal for us because the nationals were tight,” Ponomarenko agreed. “The nerves got to us a bit, so this one was much more freer. Still, there’s a bit of technical things that need to be done before Worlds.”
Carreira and Ponomarenko displayed good character throughout their dramatic free dance to music from the Carmen Suite. Showing lots of speed and power, the team picked up a level four on all three lifts, twizzles and the dance spin. The four-time Grand Prix medalists finished fourth in this segment, maintaining fourth place overall (four-time Grand Prix medalists but maintained third place overall (117.78/197.08).
“It was good,” said Carreira. “We’re very happy with our performance. I think it went really well.”
“We came in wanting to attack both programs, not holding back, and I think we did that here at this competition,” added Ponomarenko.
The team changed their costumes after Cup of China as they wanted a “fresh” new “classical” look for the rest of the season. They are now looking forward to the 2025 World Championships next month.
“The U.S. crowd’s very supportive, so we’re looking forward to that and we’re very, very excited,” said Ponomarenko. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic event. We were talking with our high performance director and he said that it’s almost sold out. It’s going to be a great event!”
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
USA’s Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik placed fifth (74.63 points) with their fun rhythm dance to a Bee Gees medley. Their routine was highlighted by a level-four rotational lift and twizzles.
“We had high expectations because we performed pretty well last year at Four Continents,” said Zingas. “Today, I felt particularly shaky, so it was definitely not the best I could do. Vadym was very strong and did a great job.”
“We were expecting to do better in terms of scores, but jet lag is hitting me,” Kolesnik added. “I’m ready to go to bed now. We could have done better today, so we just want to forget about that and focus on the free dance where we’ll give it our all.”
The four-time Challenger Series medalists delivered a captivating free dance to “Epilogue” by Olafur Arnalds and “Lost it to Trying” by Son Lux, placing fifth (113.92). Their routine was highlighted by level-four lifts and dance spin as well as intricate choreography by Benoît Richaud. The twizzles were graded a level three and four, and they finished fifth overall (188.55) in their second appearance at this event.
“I’m happy with what we’ve done today,” said Kolesnik. “I think we just wanted to skate our best and give justice to this program because we love it. We enjoy doing it and I feel like no matter how we skated, we just wanted
to enjoy this process and today I felt like we accomplished it.”
“This program is really special to us,” added Zingas. “Throughout the season, I think it’s evolved and grown, and it means more to us now. And even though the result wasn’t exactly what we hoped, I feel proud of what we did today, and I feel excited to start a new season with a good momentum.”
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