Canada's Gilles, Poirier skate to lead in ice dance at Grand Prix Final
Canadian pair Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps finish less than 3 points off podium
Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are the leaders after the rhythm dance at figure skating's ISU Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy.
The 30-year-old Gilles, and Poirier, 31, scored 85.93 points Friday for the program to Lady Bri's "Do What I Do." They take a slim edge over Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates (85.49) into Saturday's free dance.
Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri are third (84.55), while Canadians Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen are fourth.
"We're happy with what we put out there," said Fournier Beaudry. "Our goal is always to go out there and try our best to win. This is also a challenge to see how we measure against these teams."
Gilles and Poirier, the world bronze medallists in 2021, have never climbed the podium at the Final, finishing fifth in 2014 and '19. They won both their Grand Prix assignments this season — Skate Canada International and Grand Prix Espoo.
The Final was cancelled in 2020 and '21 due to COVID-19.
WATCH | Gilles, Poirier lead after ryhthm dance:
Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps were fourth in the pairs event, with 184.28 points.
Stellato-Dudek had been ill this week, which kept her off the ice for training.
"We were able to accomplish some things," she said. "Sure, the result wasn't what we wanted but once we overcome our emotions we are going to get back up and build for the next one."
Japan's Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi claimed the gold (214.58), while Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier were second (213.28), and Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy took the bronze (187.02).
"I was really happy about winning but I lost to the pressure and thought we might have lost because of my mistakes," said Kihara, who along with Miura will now look toward the world championships on home ice in March in Saitama, Japan.
"It's been about two years since I last made a mistake so that made me panic. After that, I don't remember the details."
WATCH | Riku, Ryuichi claim pairs gold:
In the women's competition, world champ Kaori Sakamoto of Japan leads after the short program with a score of 75.86 points.
Mai Mihara is second with 74.58 while Belgium's Loena Hendrickx (74.24) broke up a Japanese sweep of the top three spots with Rinka Watanabe in fourth (72.58) and 15-year-old American Isabeau Levito in fifth (69.26).
Canada has no skaters competing in senior men's or women's singles at the Final, which features the top six skaters or teams on the season's Grand Prix circuit.
The competition concludes Saturday with the men's and women's free skates and the free dance.
Watch live coverage of the Grand Prix Final on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android. Action continues on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET with the men's free program.
WATCH | World champion Sakamoto leads women's competition:
With files from The Associated Press
