Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will bring home bronze medals from the figure skating Grand Prix Fiinal after Saturday's free dance event in Beijing.
The Toronto duo posted a total of 213.58 to finish behind Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates (221.61), while Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy (215.51) took silver. WATCH l Canada's Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier take bronze: Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen finished fifth with 195.57 points, just ahead of fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha in sixth at 193.63. WATCH l Chock, Bates post season-best number of 132.46 points for gold: In the women's event, two-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto won her first Grand Prix Final with a free skate set to music from Lauryn Hill.
She was indeed Feeling Good after scoring 225.70 points, easily outdistancing second-place Loena Hendrickx of Belgium and Japanese countrywoman Hana Yoshida, who overtook Nina Pinzarrone for bronze.
Sakamoto opened with her now-signature double axel before landing seven triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe loop in combination and a triple loop-triple toe loop to wrap up her program and the title. "This year, I had a good start with the Grand Prix," Sakamoto said, "so I really wanted to keep it going like that.