Grand Prix champions Gilles, Poirier withdraw from Canadian championships in Oshawa

OSHAWA, Ont. — Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, gold medallists at last month’s ISU Grand Prix Final, will miss next week’s Canadian figure skating championships after Gilles underwent an appendectomy.

Gilles and Poirier were having a career-best season, winning both of their Grand Prix assignments, and the Final in Turin, Italy.

Gilles, 30, and the 31-year-old Poirier won bronze at the 2021 world championships. They had considered retirement after their seventh-place finish at last year’s Beijing Olympics, but after an extended off-season break, decided to return.

Senior competition begins January 12 at  the Tribute Communities Centre.

Skate Canada also announced Gabrielle Daleman, the 2017 world bronze medallist, plus ice dancers Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer and pair team Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland will miss the event due to injuries.

Keegan Messing will be looking for men’s singles gold in what’s expected to be his final Canadian national appearance. He plans to retire after this season. Beijing Olympian Madeline Schizas is a headliner in women’s singles.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who won the French Grand Prix, will be looking to earn their first national title, while NHK Trophy winners Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen will be vying for the top spot in ice dance.

Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, who train with Gilles and Poirier at the Scarborough Figure Skating Club, will be looking for their first national Ice Dance title in the Junior division. The Ajax residents, who have been skating together for five years, are two-time silver medalists at the nationals and the 2022 World Junior bronze medalists. They are also unbeaten this season.

The junior competition will take place January 10-11.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2022.

The Canadian Press