I didn’t watch Piper and Paul’s bronze medal skate live. I would have been too nervous anyhow. I came home, checked the results on Jackie Wong’s Rocker Skating twitter, immediately started crying, then cried my way through the routine on CBC’s replay.
That night I watched the entire rhythm dance with commentary by Carol Lane (Piper and Paul’s coach) and Kurt Browning. It was very sweet hearing Carol’s in the moment reaction to their brilliant skate, especially after such a difficult season.
For me, having watched every single skating competition since September, this was an unbelievably happy result. Who cares about the colour of the medal. “Vincent” started out the season very poorly; it was slow and choppy. Piper and Paul looked like they had ‘lost a step’, as they say in sports. I am overjoyed that they worked so hard to get it all back.
It brought back a lot of memories of the 2024 World Championships we attended in Montreal. After Piper and Paul completed their incredible skate to Wuthering Heights, Paul was also quite emotional. But not like this.
