Unionville's Paul Poirier is an Olympic medallist. Poirier and his longtime partner, Piper Gilles of Toronto, won bronze in ice dance at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games on Wednesday, Feb. 11, ending a long wait for a pair that has spent 15 years skating together.

The Canadians scored a season-best 131.56 points in the free dance, giving them a total of 217.74, also their best of the season. France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron took gold with 225.82, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won silver with 224.39.

From third place to the podium

Poirier and Gilles set themselves up for a medal two days earlier. In Monday's rhythm dance they scored 86.18 to sit third behind the French and American teams, and they held that position through the final segment. They had also skated earlier in the Games in the team event.

Their free dance drew on Vincent van Gogh's painting The Starry Night and was set to a cover of Don McLean's Vincent. Both skaters broke down in tears as the crowd erupted at the end of the program, and Skate Canada said the routine brought the audience to tears as well.

Gilles, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three years ago, said the result was something she could not have pictured then.

Three years ago, when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I don't think I envisioned this moment.

— Piper Gilles, Olympic ice dancer

Poirier said the pair felt unusually settled before the biggest skate of their careers.

Piper and I felt so calm today, which was a little bit strange actually, going into a competition of these stakes, but I think our calmness came from being really prepared and I think being able to let go.

— Paul Poirier, Olympic ice dancer

A first Olympic medal

Poirier and Gilles, partners for 15 years, have won four world championship medals together, but they had left their two previous Olympics as a team without a medal. Milan was their third Games.

The bronze was Canada's first figure skating medal of these Olympics and the country's fourth medal overall at the Games, according to The Canadian Press. It was also Canada's first Olympic figure skating medal since the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Canada's two other ice dance teams also finished the event. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha placed 10th with a season-best total of 199.80, and Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac were 14th with 187.18.