Canadian ice dancers claim silver, bronze at Four Continents
Weaver and Poje finish 2nd, Gilles and Poirier place 3rd in Anaheim
Canadian ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje captured silver, while compatriots Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earned bronze at the Four Continents figure skating championship in Anaheim, Calif.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, who entered the free dance in second, seized gold on Sunday while fellow Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue dropped off the podium entirely.
"We feel really proud of our skate today," said Poje. "We went out there and just tried to perform the whole story behind our program We were more connected to than in our previous performance."
WATCH | Weaver and Poje's free dance
Chock and Bates posted the highest score in the free dance — 126.25 points — to finish with 207.42 overall. Gilles and Poirier's free score of 124.40 was better than Weaver and Poje's 123.37, but the latter duo claimed silver due to a stronger score in the rhythm dance on Friday.
"Every time we perform this we feel a different emotion but we always feel that magic," said Gilles, who along with Poirier skated to Don MacLean's hit song Vincent (Starry, Starry Night). "We need to keep creating moments, that we're proud of and keep going with this momentum to reach our goal to be on the podium at worlds."
WATCH | Gilles and Poirier's free dance
Weaver and Poje skated to a piece from the Quebec rock opera Starmania in tribute to figure skater Denis Ten of Kazakhstan, stabbed to death in a car hijacking last year at age 25.
"It's a very emotional piece to the last music he performed to," said Weaver. "It's a great inspiration, not only because he was an amazing skater but an amazing person. We want to give our best tribute to him."
Dancing to a medley of Elvis Presley tunes, Chock and Bates earned the first major international title of their career together. The duo finished second at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships two weeks ago.
WATCH | Chock and Bates's winning dance
Two-time U.S. champions Hubbell and Donohue led after the rhythm dance but finished fourth after having an illegal lift on the opening component of their free dance.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen of Montreal were sixth.
Coverage from Anaheim continues at 9 p.m. ET with the gala.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press