TURIN, Italy - Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are the leaders after the rhythm dance at figure skating's ISU Grand Prix Final.
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.
"We don't often see the scores this tight after the rhythm dance," said Poirier. "It's exciting to see. Everyone in this field is so good and so strong. It's great for the audience as well."
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.
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."
Earlier this season, the 39-year-old Stellato-Dudek became the oldest skater to ever win a Grand Prix event.
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).
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.
This report by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÒÅÆ×ÊÁÏ was first published Dec. 9, 2022.
