Canada's Gilles, Poirier sit 2nd after rhythm dance at figure skating world championships

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 6:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 15 minutes ago

Canadian crystal dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier beryllium 2nd astatine the fig skating satellite championships aft scoring 86.44 points successful the rhythm creation connected Friday in Boston.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States earned a season-best score of 90.18 to instrumentality the pb arsenic they pursuit a 3rd consecutive satellite title.

In what has accelerated go the champion rivalry successful fig skating, Gilles and Poirier performed to the astir American of music: The Beach Boys.

WATCH l Gilles, Poirier gain 86.44 points successful bushed dance:

The American squad followed them to the ice, and Chock and Bates — cheered connected by a large location assemblage successful TD Garden — roared erstwhile they finished their "tour of the decades" program.

"It was astir apt the astir amusive I've had frankincense acold connected competitory crystal successful a performance, possibly ever," Chock said. "It was truly a joyousness to execute successful beforehand of a location assemblage and stock that excitement with Evan. It was the best."

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson were 3rd with 83.86 for Britain, and Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri looked retired of sync portion scoring 83.06 for fourth. They were the lone countries to interruption up a full batch of Canada and U.S. connected the leaderboard.

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were 5th for Canada, conscionable up of 2 American teams — Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko and the duo of Caroline Green and Michael Parsons — giving the neighbouring nations 5 of the apical seven.

"We truly enjoyed this program," said Gilles, who on with Poirier took metallic down Chock and Bates past year, but precocious bushed the U.S. dynamo astatine Four Continents. "I deliberation we truly drilled it successful training, and we cognize precisely wherever each measurement needs to be. That allowed america to suffer ourselves successful the performance. And truthful we conscionable had truthful overmuch fun."

WATCH l Gilles and Poirier 'really felt that vigor from the crowd':

The International Skating Union sets the requirements for the bushed creation each season, and this twelvemonth the satellite governing assemblage settled connected societal dances and styles of the 1950's, 60's and 70's, providing the skaters plentifulness of latitude for their programs.

There were sock hops aplenty, and Chubby Checker implored everyone successful the arena to twist "'til we teardrop the location down." There were Watusis and Madisons, the "Soul Bossa Nova," and impervious that disco isn't rather dormant yet. And determination were respective homages to Donna Summer, who was calved successful the Boston vicinity of Mission Hill.

Chock and Bates threw each of it into their circuit done the decades. There was the "Hawaii Five-O" taxable and "Let's Twist Again." They were "Stayin' Alive" and took a travel done the "Car Wash." The mates adjacent tried to "blame it connected the boogie" earlier getting the assemblage to bash the "Y.M.C.A." And they fittingly finished with Summer's rendition of "Last Dance."

WATCH l Full replay of bushed creation astatine fig skating worlds:

The contention continued Friday nighttime with the women's escaped skate, wherever American comeback kid Alysa Liu was trying to clasp down archetypal spot pursuing a abbreviated programme that those successful TD Garden rewarded with a lasting ovation.

Watch unrecorded sum of the fig skating satellite championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Here's the afloat streaming schedule and here are the latest results.

Liu, who stepped distant from the athletics soon aft the 2022 Winter Olympics, announced her comeback aboriginal past year. And portion determination person been immoderate bumps on the way, the 19-year-old delivered 1 of her career-best performances Wednesday night, scoring 74.58 points to instrumentality a constrictive pb implicit Mone Chiba of Japan and American teammate Isabeau Levito.

The U.S. has not had a women's satellite champion since Kimmie Meissner successful 2006.

Wakaba Higuchi and Kaori Sakamoto are adjacent behind, and Sakamoto could marque immoderate past if she tin flooded her three-point shortage and go the archetypal pistillate to triumph 4 consecutive satellite titles since Carol Heiss successful the 1950s and '60s.