Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier feel 'free' on ice after her battle with cancer; taking season-by-season approach
The two-time world medallists from Canada are in their 12th international season. They say the next Olympics is not on their minds - for now. Read the exclusive interview.
Figure Skating
Feeling “free” from the routines and rigours of a meticulously planned four-year Olympic quad, Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier have entered a unique era in their 12th international season together.
“I think we're in the era of, Whatever Piper and Paul Want,” laughs Gilles in a recent exclusive interview with Olympics.com. “And I think that is quite fun.”
They earned their second world medal in three years to close out last season, one that took the most unexpected of turns when Piper was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in January, forcing them out of competition mid-season.
The 31-year-old Gilles waited to share the news until after the season, but in doing so began an unexpected journey with women who had gone through (and are still going through) much the similar.
“It's really difficult to share a little piece of yourself like that; you feel extremely vulnerable,” says Gilles, who is now cancer-free. “But in that vulnerability comes strength. And the more I talked about it, the stronger I felt as a person to share my story.
“I think that's why I even chose to speak out about it: Opening myself to a new reality – having cancer – and a new world that I'm exploring day-to-day,” she adds. “But [realising], 'No, I'm not alone.' And I think that's a gift.”
And so another season on the international circuit has come, with wins at Skate Canada and Cup of China, the 2022 Grand Prix Final champions look to successfully defend their title at the 2023 edition this weekend in Beijing (7-10 December).
“It's freeing,” Poirier adds of their in-the-moment approach. “It's definitely different from how we've gone about the last few quads.”
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier: The 'why not' motto
Gilles and Poirier are not alone: The ice dance podium at last year’s World Championships was full of 30-somethings extending their careers season-by-season, with world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA) and silver medallists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) both beyond the decade mark on the sport’s biggest stages.
“It's [been] mentally freeing,” agrees Gilles of their approach, which leaves the coming Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in the "unknown" category.
“I think having that feeling of being tied down for four years and then having the Olympics be technically your last competition or your last performance... that can be really stressful.”
The 2024 Worlds are set for Montreal, with the 2020 edition having been scheduled for the French Canadian city before the pandemic cancelled it. Gilles/Poirier made their Worlds debut the last time Canada hosted – way back in 2013.
That freedom has encouraged a more fluid creative process, the two opting for a Wuthering Heights free dance that they had long considered but never pulled the trigger on. The demanding program is full of wide-ranging emotion and expression.
“We've tried to do things musically that are a little bit more experimental and require a higher level of expertise than we have with our what we call 'knife-and-fork' cuts of the music,” explains Poirier.
He adds: “It makes skating rich and interesting for us, and I think taking risks musically has allowed us to perform programs that other people wouldn't necessarily do because the task musically, before you can even get the choreography started, seems so daunting.”
They’ve turned daunting to doing.
“Our motto has been, ‘Why not?’” Gilles says, smiling. “We're in an exploring era of Piper and Paul, and that's quite special... and quite internally rewarding.”
2026 Olympics feel 'abstract,' 'far away'
But how do the two-time Olympians relate to those coming Winter Games in 2026, then?
“It feels really abstract more than anything,” explains Poirier, who is 32. “We often will choose programs mid-quad thinking about what do we want to do at the Olympics and what programs are going to prepare us for that or lead the way to that. It's definitely different not having those thoughts.
“I don't want to say I feel indifferent to [Milano Cortina 2026] because that's not quite the right thing, but it just feels like kind of this nebulous, far-away thing that doesn't seem incredibly relevant to what we're doing exactly today,” he said. “And, you know, in a way that's kind of nice.”
With reigning Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) out of competition (and with no sure signs they’ll return), the Olympic opportunity is massive in dance, especially for the top teams with their established CVs, an especially important aspect in this every-detail-counts discipline.
That’s not the mentality for the Canadians, however, who have been eighth and seventh at their previous Olympic appearances.
Especially after Gilles’ cancer scare, the approach is overtly in-the-moment.
“I don't think we want to go into whatever competition is our last to have that mindset, like, ‘This is the end of our career,’” she said. “We just find it so freeing to be able to step out on that ice and produce what we love, you know? And I think that reflects in how we're skating right now. We're confident in our skating. We're free. ... I think that's why we're staying, because we still love it. We still feel like there's more for us to create. There's no box for Piper and Paul – ever. There's no ending... no closed box. There's still more to be done.”
Piper's cancer journey brings appreciation for the moment
“I just have nothing to say [but] how much I admire her courage to go through everything,” Poirier says when asked about Gilles’ cancer journey. “There's a lot of mental gymnastics you go through. And I'm sure for Piper, as she was actually going through an illness, [she was] thinking about bigger things that are more than just skating.”
After a golden Grand Prix last year that saw them sweep both their 2022 assignments and claim a first-ever win at the Final, Gilles revealed that she had had an appendectomy over the new year, putting them out of the Canadian national championships. A few weeks later they would withdraw from Four Continents, too.
The news was layered, however: Gilles opted to share a truth – the removal of her appendix – but kept the cancer part private until after the season. The appendectomy was a precautionary measure to be certain the ovarian cancer had not spread.
Gilles credits the team’s longtime coach Carol Lane with her support, as well as a greater net of individuals she’d turn to. In 2018, Gilles had lost her mum, Bonnie, to brain cancer. That experience encouraged her even more to share her own story.
“I'm happy that I spoke out,” she said. “It's still difficult: There are some days where I'm like, ‘Wow, I can't open myself up to that. I can't open that box today.’ And that's okay. I know that. But, you know, sharing is powerful. I'm glad I've opened up a little bit of my story.”
What comes next in this team’s story? It appears that even they don’t know the answer to that.
“It's year-by-year, seeing if we still have that exploration nature, really,” Gilles said. “And it's still fun.”