When we meet Piper and Paul in the lobby of their hotel in Prague, the morning after their free dance, the morning after the fifth medal at Worlds, we’re all a bit sleepy, time changing the night before to summer hour aggravating everyone’s sleep deprivation, and especially theirs.
“I don’t even know how many hours I slept, or if I slept at all”, Paul smiles, a tired smile, while Piper nods – she wears a white cap, more like an armor in face of the complete exhaustion they’re in.
At the same time, it’s Paul who says, at the end of our 30 minute conversation, “Thank you for talking to us”, a testament to the professionals and humans they are, they have been throughout their competitive career.
And the three journalists that face them this morning, Inside Skating representative among them, can really consider themselves lucky they have been given the time to dive into Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier’s presence at 2026 Worlds: their decision to take part in the competition after all, returning to their Wuthering Heights free dance especially for Prague, finding meaning, excitement in this 13th Worlds of their career (their first one, in 2013, on home ground, in London, Ontario), treating this edition of Worlds as a celebration.
And the conversation runs smoothly in spite of the tiredness, a calm rhythm, in tune with our shared low level of energy, and becomes quite animated when we ask them to choose – from a set of photographs we had prepared beforehand, showing relevant glimpses of their programs through the years – some that have a special meaning, for one reason or another, some they remember more than others.
And they talk about their rhythm dance in Boston, which they consider their breakthrough one, they talk about Mack and Mabel, about the Grand Prix Final in Torino which they won – and they also talk about the people they met along the way. Before coming to Prague, they went to the farewell dinner of Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus, their longtime training mates, who had announced their retirement and who were about to leave their shared Toronto training base, and Paul is rather moved, you see. “The people make the skating, in a lot of ways”, you hear him say.
And the photo-journey into memories comes with this honest, genuine realization, Piper shares.
“When I look at these photos, and especially the programs before these four years, it was like we were constantly trying to prove something. …To ourselves and I think to people, that we belong here.
And I think after the Olympics in 2022 we kind of just took that weight, and that pressure off ourselves, and we just kind of said: You know, it’s gonna come when we want it to.
And I think that allowed us to truly be ourselves, which allowed us to compete in a more confident way, because we weren’t proving anything anymore.
We were just like: This is me, like it or not”.
And the conversation becomes even more passionate when they talk changes in ice dancing, changes that went south, that went too far, on one hand, and then changes that are actually needed for the sport to continue to stay relevant.
“We reflect a lot on ice dance and the sport that we think it can be. And we believe there’s just a strong foundation of skating that needs to be at the back of everything that we do, that’s one of our philosophies”.
“You don’t get to see the basics of traditional ice dance, of skating so close, and the intricacy anymore – and how difficult that actually is”.
“We would encourage the sport to kind of go in that direction because there’s something so special about people skating so close”.
“The compulsory dances sit at the foundation of everything that we do, and you learn so much by skating them. You develop so many skills, and you really learn about tracking, and working around a partner, and accommodating”.
“I think they’ve pushed us to be exciting, and this, and that! And ice dance can be exciting, but it doesn’t have to be in your face!”
“We even talk about how, especially in this quad, with the rule changes that have happened, we feel like we have less opportunities in our programs to practice our skating”.
“Ice dance needs to go back to its roots a little bit more”.
Hear them say it, emphasize it – and it’s so great they are using their voices, and their voices are loud –, because one thing that Piper and Paul wish for themselves in the years to come is to be heard, and also become mentors for their younger colleagues.
First step is just around the corner: whether they stay competitive or not (they’ll follow what their hearts have to say; so far, they only announced they’d skip the Grand Prix circuit), they already put themselves on the list to become team leaders for some of the junior ice dancers.
And on an early Sunday morning in Prague, at the end of a season that saw them fulfilling their Olympic dream, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are really vocal about ice dancing, they’re really passionate and interested in its future – and they want to be a part of that future.
A conversation with Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, as interviewed by Florentina Tone / Inside Skating, Tatjana Flade and Judith Dombrowski
Piper, Paul, these were your 13th World Championships, we counted them all – how were they, how did you live this entire event?
Piper: It was slightly different than a normal World Championships, because we felt we had already accomplished our goal of the season, at the Olympics, with the bronze medal. So Worlds kind of felt like a bonus competition.
And… we kind of lifted the weight off it; even though we still had the same pressure of competing, and backstage you would still feel the nerves, and the energy, and the excitement.
But I think, at the end of the day, before starting the program, we were like: We chose to be here, we wanted to skate and perform here in Prague.
And I think it’s pretty cool that we can have that power and that choice to make the decision to come here. And we had a great time, and I’m happy that we did. The Prague crowd was amazing, I think this is one of the crowds that we’ll remember for a long, long time.
There were fans from many countries in the crowd, countering this narrative that skating is going down etcetera…
Paul [smiling]: Yeah, skating is well alive.
You said you took the decision to be here, but what was the main factor? Wanting to perform – that was the main drive?
Paul: I think more than anything, just celebrate what we had accomplished for the whole season.
The Olympics is such a tough situation – even though we enjoyed it a lot, there’s so much pressure that comes with the Games. And I think we wanted to end the season on a lighter note. And we had the opportunity to come here, to have both of our coaches here, and we didn’t have that opportunity at the Olympics.
We just wanted to celebrate all that we had accomplished.
Did you take the decision quite fast to come here or…? Because, at the beginning of the season, I’m not sure if you were planning to actually come to Prague…
Piper: I think Prague had always been on our radar. I know my dad was like: We’re going to Prague! And I was like: Okay. [Big smile]
But, really, it was our decision.
And we already said Yes at the Games because we needed to make sure we get the people in, but Paul and I knew the real test if we were going was when we got home, and skated a little bit. So we really kind of took a few days.
We actually decided on the Friday [on the week before Worlds], but we, at any point, could have been like: I’m not going. We’re done. And that would have been okay, it would have been an okay decision.
But having the Wuthering Heights comeback allowed us to have, I think, a little bit more determination and excitement.
Was that something that spontaneously popped into your minds: Let’s bring back Wuthering Heights, or…
Piper [smiling]: Well, no.
Carol was the one who actually messaged us at the Games, and she was like: I don’t know if you’d be interested in this, but if we did go to Worlds, would you be interested in doing Wuthering Heights?
And Paul and I, at that time, were like: No way, no way! [smiling] And I had mentioned Evita, and Carol was like: I don’t know, we’ll see…
And we kind of talked back and forth, and we finally got home and we looked at videos from the last four years, because we figured that was going to be the time frame where we could take programs back from, that would still be in our bodies.
You said it, and we totally believe it was a challenge to bring back Wuthering Heights…
Piper and Paul: Yeah.
What was the specific challenge that you needed to overcome? Going back into the character? What was the most challenging about returning to this very cinematic free dance?
Paul: Well, I think it’s to have the level of preparation that you can go into a competition setting, into a performance, and feel confident.
You know, we go out and compete all the time, and we have done that for many, many years – but a lot of your ability to perform well in that setting is determined by your preparation: how many repetitions and how many run-throughs you’ve done.
And you kind of use that as an armor going into the competition, to remind yourself: I’ve done this hundreds of times, and it works. And I know my body knows how to do it.
But we didn’t have that going into this competition.
I mean, nothing was new, we knew that we were capable of everything. But just having the number of run-throughs required to give us the confidence to perform, that was missing.
And, fortunately, in this circumstance… Though the performance was rough around the edges, we did have our experience to rely on. And, I think, in a lot of ways that carried us through the performance yesterday.
Piper: And, going back, we rely so much on the pacing of a program.
You know, some of the elements are the same, but how we link and going in, it’s really like… If a mistake happens, we always say it’s not necessarily in the moment, it’s always a couple steps prior.
So that is the challenge when you’re going back to a program like that, when you haven’t done, like Paul said, the repetition. The pacing is what really kind of shapes the program.
Not to mention the mood of this particular free dance is so different from Vincent, the free dance you’ve been doing all season…
Piper: It’s extremely different.
And you learn your breathing points, and it’s a very different thing, Vincent was at a different point. So that was a challenge, each program has its kind of pacing.
THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN MILAN
Coming back to Vincent – and how could we not?! –, lead us a bit into the free dance day at the Olympics, because you looked so locked in, so in the moment. To many of us, that was the performance of the night, so how did you live that day, what mindset did you embrace, how did it overall feel?
Piper: You know what, we were surrounded by great people, and I think Paul and I have chosen that over the years.
Yeah, we could have switched camps, we could have gone elsewhere, we could have done whatever. But Paul and I are most comfortable with the people that make us feel good and allow us to create.
And we were allowed to have our athletic therapist come to the Olympics with us, and we had Juris with us. And those people make us feel so comfortable and so strong, and so, when we were getting ready to get on the ice, having them kind of play around with us, move around with us, give us words of affirmation: You guys got this, Be strong, be powerful, Remember who you are, I think allowed us to embrace the moment.
And once we got on the ice, we just felt so calm, and ready, and present.
And we just wanted to skate that program like we did at home, because we knew we could do it a thousand times over, and make it special. But to do it at the Olympic Games is another feat.
But we really relied on that, and I think it really has to do with our people, who created a wonderful atmosphere for us to be calm and ready.
It truly felt like a moment of immense joy. I remember you jumping for joy on the podium – those images live rent free in my head. It was like you were the happiest people on the podium, and some of us also! You were celebrating it, and it was great to see that!
Piper [on a shy, happy voice, shrugging her shoulders]: Thank you.
Would you say, looking back, that was the highest of highs, career-wise?
Paul: Definitely one of them. I think it’s hard to pick just one. There are so many moments in our career that are so special for different reasons – but this is definitely one of them.
What would be some other ones that you would like to point out?
Paul: I think Worlds in Montreal was really special for us, doing one at home [Piper: Yeah!]
We had so many people there, so many friends, so much family! And that was a really special moment in a way.
“THE PEOPLE MAKE THE SKATING, IN A LOT OF WAYS”
Paul: I think there’s also just so many moments at home, in our training environment, moments of the creative process, that are just so special – just the care, and the time, and the energy that we put into that.
You know, competitions really make up 2% of what we do. It’s such a small part of what our existence is, in a lot of ways.
Those training days also bring so much meaning to what we do.
Piper: With our teammates [Paul: Yeah!]
And they have all come and gone, and different people have come in, and they’ve all shaped who we are as people, and they’ve all given some kind of presence in our journey.
And I think that’s something so unique: to be able to cherish and love sport, but all be on our own different journeys, and celebrate it.
Paul: The week before we came here, we had a goodbye dinner for Carolane and Shane. They were moving, they were leaving Toronto. And it was really strange, because that was like a whole chapter of our lives, as an example of just the time that we’ve spent together.
Over the course of the time we’ve skated together, we’ve had so many training mates that have come and gone, and done different things, accomplished different things. And I think we’ve been very blessed to be a part of their journey, and likewise them for us, I’m sure.
So the people make the skating, in a lot of ways.
“WE’VE BECOME VERY ATTUNED TO OURSELVES”
You mentioned that after this season you would have a conversation at some point, how it’s gonna go. What will be the key factors for you going forward? What will be deciding for you?
Paul: I think Piper and I have always been led by inspiration.
Our decisions, even coming here, are always based on what feels interesting to us, what feels inspiring to us, where is our creativity leading us.
And so I think no matter what we do, that will be the first question we ask ourselves: What’s speaking to us, and what’s the best avenue to accomplish that.
So it’s hard to predict what inspiration is gonna come to us, what motivation is gonna come to us, but I think we’ve become very attuned to ourselves, to listen to those voices and to do what we want to do in that moment.
A JOURNEY THROUGH MOMENTS, PROGRAMS
Speaking of inspiration, of creativity, when getting ready for this interview I picked some glimpses, some moments in your programs over the years (to our readers: see some of them above)…
Piper [scrolling through the screenshots I chose for them to see]: Oh my gosh!
Paul: Oh, that’s a lot!
If you were to look at them and pick some: moments, programs, things that feel relevant to you, or bring back some memories, feel free to point out this and that…
Piper: Oh boy! It’s so funny to look at those…
If I look at this program, for example, it was so interesting, but so short-lived…
Piper: That was our Perry Mason free dance. Yeah, the one that we changed right after Skate America, the year of the Olympics.
I also remember this moment, for example.
Piper: Yeah, I was going to say this! Worlds in Boston will always have a special place in our heart. I think that was the first time Paul and I ever hit Top 5 in the rhythm dance. And that was just so unexpected!
We came in expecting to be, you know, eighth, around there, and for us to come out with a personal best score, and be in the Top 5, we weren’t expecting that, but that was just… [big smile, big exhale]
And not only rewarding your creativity, but also making it a part of the rules, making a compulsory dance out of it…
Piper: Yeah, exactly.
In a way, it was kind of a breakout for us, in terms of people actually rewarding our creativity and creating something that will be in the history books.
If you were to pick another moment, program…?
Piper: Mack and Mabel was so good too!
Paul: Mack and Mabel was so much fun!
Piper: Mack and Mabel, we did it two years in a row, with COVID. But that program led us into the free dance to our first World medal, the second time we did it. Which was such a fun process, too, because we choreographed a lot of that off the ice and then we had to bring it back onto the ice.
That was kind of a very different process for us, creatively. Usually, we kind of break it down off the ice later. That one was kind of in reverse, I like that one in that sense.
I might have chosen one photo for each season you competed – that much we admire your creativity and that much it stayed with us!
Piper [bursting into laughter]: Oh my God, that was the belly roll!
I think the Torino win for me will always be a special one, because, again, we were there with our other teammates, Nadiia and Peter, and they won the Junior Grand Prix Final.
Paul: Carol and Juris were both there too, and it was such a nice, special event, that Grand Prix Final.
Piper: And I think that was the start of a different journey for us as well.
PIPER, PAUL AND THEIR JOURNEY LEADING TO MILANO-CORTINA
I remember when we last talked, you said – about Beijing, about the season going into those particular Olympics – that you didn’t want to live those emotions ever again. Whereas now, leading to Milano-Cortina, it felt different in so many ways…
Looking back, do you see that maybe not having the best experience four years ago in Beijing was kind of a blessing in disguise? Because this Olympic cycle you really thrived and you had so many great programs…
2022/2023: Evita
2023/2024: Wuthering Heights
2024/2025: Air on the G String
2025/2026: Vincent
Paul: Yeah, it definitely led us down the path we’ve been on for the last few years. The disappointment, even though it was hard, it was difficult, it set us on this path.
And, you know, we always talk about looking back and not wanting to change things. We’ve had our own path to get to where we are, and that’s had a lot of detours that it’s taken on, but we’re also grateful for it, because it’s given us all of these opportunities to create so many wonderful things.
Piper: Yeah, I mean, when I look at these photos, and especially the programs before these four years, it was like we were constantly trying to prove something.
To yourselves?
Piper: To ourselves, and I think to people, that we belong here.
And I think after the Olympics in 2022 we kind of just took that weight, and that pressure off ourselves, and just kind of said: You know, it’s gonna come when we want it to.
And I think that allowed us to truly be ourselves, which allowed us to compete in a more confident way, because we weren’t proving anything anymore.
We were just like: This is me, like it or not.
And when you see this fifth World medal, where does it stand compared to the other ones?
Piper: Ah, I don’t know…
You need to let it settle.
Paul [looking at Piper]: Yeah, I don’t think we fully processed it yet – but I think our longevity in the sport, not only in just how many years we’ve skated, but our ability to stay at such a high level of competition for so long, is as a testament to the foundation that we built for ourselves.
We really took the time at the start of our career to attune ourselves to one another, and to really learn to skate together, to skate in hold, and to have strong basics.
And that’s something that doesn’t come quickly, and it doesn’t come for free.
We actually see that now, when everyone else is already practicing the Golden Waltz, and the Golden Waltz is hard.
Paul: Yeah – and I think we’ve really been able to benefit from that over the last five years, because we have that foundation to support us, even when maybe not everything else is going exactly the way that we want it to.
And we’re grateful that we took the time, and took the energy, and the focus, and poured it into that.
You know, we reflect a lot on ice dance and the sport that we think that it can be. And we believe there’s just a strong foundation of skating that needs to be at the back of everything that we do – that’s one of our philosophies of skating.
And the time and the care that we’ve put into that, we’re now seeing the rewards of, which is really nice.
“WE WOULD ENCOURAGE THE SPORT TO GO IN THAT DIRECTION BECAUSE THERE’S SOMETHING SO SPECIAL ABOUT PEOPLE SKATING SO CLOSE”
Would you like to see ice dance developing? Which way could it go?
Piper: I think it needs to go back to its roots a little bit more.
I think they’ve pushed us to be exciting, and this, and that! [and Piper’s tone of voice is meant to recreate the changes in ice dancing in recent years, with all the excitement and the fireworks intended in the rules.] And ice dance can be exciting, but it doesn’t have to be in your face!
There can be such a subtle nuance to excitement, like building one, internally.
Paul and I really enjoyed doing a variety of programs that were more internal, that were like… the connection between the two of us, and external ones.
But I think they’ve wanted it to go one way.
And I think, like Paul said, that you don’t get to see the basics of traditional ice dance, of skating so close, and the intricacy, and how difficult that actually is.
So I think it’s really important, in a way, figuring out how [they want it] to be, the new judges that are coming in, trying to make sure that they’re knowledgeable enough on the background of ice dance history. And same with the athletes coming in, taking a little bit more time to do those traditional skating skills.
Like: we would almost spend an hour a day before we started any programs just doing side-by-side stuff, in hold, or a different variety of things. And this allowed us to become such better skaters in the long run, because we knew exactly where we were at all times.
So I would encourage the sport to go in that direction because there’s something so special about people skating so close, because they’re like: How do you do it?
I really hope that that’s the thing. Because I think we all can dance and show…, and that’s what show programs are for.
Piper and Paul skating their rhythm dance in Prague, at 2026 Worlds, fireworks needed by the rules, fireworks included
True, the rhythm dance nowadays feels more like a show program, and the entire segment, almost like a four-hour party. It does feel much at times.
Piper: And that’s the thing, we aren’t going to see the difference between a technical program, which is supposed to be the rhythm dance, and a free program. They both look the exact same, just slightly different elements.
So let’s show the variety.
So it’s nice that they’re bringing that a little bit back, with the compulsories, to show what the true nature of ice dance is, and what it represents.
Paul: We even talk about how, especially in this quad, with the rule changes that have happened, we feel like we have less opportunities in our programs to practice our skating.
Because the way that everything’s judged right now, everything has to be big!, and everything has to be fast!, and you have to have a lot of speed!
And there’s more and more bullets you need for the elements, so the elements are taking longer and longer, which means there’s less time to skate and to have interesting transitions.
And the way that things are constructed right now, it doesn’t allow the skaters to pour in the time into their skating, because there’s too many other things to do in the programs.
And that is a challenge!
Piper: Yeah, I think it was a challenge for everyone, because they added these choreo elements to try to bring some choreography to the programs, but, again, it lost the sense of the program, because we were so focused on creating a hydroblade, or a lift, or whatever, so those were missed opportunities for the program to develop, and now we’ve just thrown in an element!
So it’s not like it was any harder, because it may even be harder if we choose something choreographically that’s difficult and intricate, but it’s worth nothing…
“THAT PART OF THE PROCESS HAS REALLY BEEN LOST”
Learning about the Golden Waltz for next season, what was your first reaction to it?
Paul: I love it! We both really miss… And I miss competing compulsories as a separate thing.
We’re kind of the last generation to have done those at a high level, I think they still do them in novice and below, but at a high level…
You know, the compulsory dances sit at the foundation of everything that we do, and you learn so much by skating them. You develop so many skills, and you really learn about tracking, and working around a partner, and accommodating.
It’s such an interesting process to work on them and to shape them, and to think of the compulsory dances as a cohesive whole, even when we have them in the rhythm dance.
But all of our training on the compulsory dance revolved around: How can I be at a good angle, so that I get my key points and get my level?, instead of thinking about what is this dance about, what is the history of this dance, and how can I use my skating to express the context of this dance.
You know: Where did people do waltzes? They did them in ballrooms. They had a specific kind of feeling. How can I create that feeling through skating?
That part of the process has really been lost.
I don’t know exactly how the Golden is going to be put together, and if there will be key points and those kinds of things, but I think that’s the really powerful thing about skating: we’d love to see skaters that, through the way that they skate and use their knee action and glide on the ice, they’re expressing the music and the story, not just by their face and their arms – not just by face and armography [smiling].
And it’s hard, because we need to skate in a very specific, calm way in order to get our levels on our step sequences, and our levels on the compulsory dances when we hit key points, and things like that.
So that art of using your skating to tell the story, as much as you do with the rest of your body, that’s something I would love to see a lot more of.
“BOTH OF US WANT OUR VOICES TO BE HEARD WITH THE ISU”
At one point, you will step away from competitive skating – would you like to stay involved and contribute to the sport in a different role?
Piper: Paul and I are really interested in being mentors for the next generation. We both have kind of put ourselves on the list to be team leaders for some of the juniors for next year.
It wouldn’t be right for us to be doing it with the seniors [smiling], but I think it would be fun to share our knowledge with the young ones coming up. We’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I think it would be kind of fun to be around, in that sense.
You know, we were very, very lucky to have Meryl Davis and Charlie [White], we messaged them quite often when we were trying to make it – very much through Vincent years, actually.
Paul: Yeah.
Piper: They did a lot of mentoring with us.
So I think we’re kind of an open ear for any of the athletes, even the seniors. I think Lea and Trennt really enjoy just talking with us, and sharing with them things that work for us.
I think we have a lot to offer in that sense, and we’ll kind of start with that, and see what fits.
Both of us want our voices to be heard with the ISU and we hope that it can help bring ice dance back to, I guess, its rightful glory days of skating.
We don’t know in what capacity yet. But we’ll figure it out.
*** Bonus question to finish with: now that you mentioned you wanted to be a part of the change, what do you guys think about the LED boards here in Prague?
Paul: It’s fine, but as a skating watcher, when I go to the rink, I personally don’t feel it adds to the environment.
Piper: It actually depends on the lighting of the rink. The arena seats were quite dark here, and everything was dark, and the lights were quite bright, so you almost lost people’s costumes in that sense, because they weren’t the full focus.
So it really depends on the arena, but I don’t think it really adds – unless they have many sponsors and they have to change, then it makes sense. It’s a trial and error thing now, I guess.
[Interview by Florentina Tone / Inside Skating, Tatjana Flade and Judith Dombrowski
Photos by Alberto Ponti in Prague
Other photos by Natasha Ponarina, Askar Ibragimov, C. Nguyen, Florentina Tone
Other photos in Prague by Jurij Kondrun and Joosep Martinson for International Skating Union
& Photos embedded from Getty Images
Homepage and featured photo by Joosep Martinson © ISU]
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Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier: “Going into this year, the focus was: Find joy”