PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – MARCH 27: Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada perform during ISU World Figure Skating Championships – Prague on March 27, 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images)

Rhythm Dance: The Quick French Victory

Originally posted on Stadium Rant | By Stefania Zajdel | Last updated Mar 27, 2026 3:40 PM ET

After the women’s and men’s short programs and the conclusion of the pairs competition, the time came for ice dancers to make their first appearance on the World Championships stage. For the 2025/26 season, the theme for the rhythm dance is “The Music, Dance Styles and Feeling of the 1990s”, and thus the fans got to enjoy a few hours of hits from decades past. Who dazzled, accompanied by 90s beats?

The Fight Begins

The pair from Azerbaijan, Samantha Ritter and Daniel Brykalov, opened the event with a score of 50.65. They were beaten by all three pairs from their group. Junfei Ren and Jianing Xing achieved the best score out of the bunch, setting the benchmark for group two at 63.75.

Two pairs from group two achieved a score higher than Ren and Xing. Italian Victoria Manni and Carlo Roethlisberger made it to the top of the standings, only to be immediately pushed down by the Hungarian pair who skated right after them. Mariia Ignateva and Namijil Leonyidovics Szemko outdid the rest of their group during a performance that earned them 68.71 points.

Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita, a Japanese pair, broke the 70-point barrier and reached the top with a score of 72.33. Although other skaters also managed to surpass it, their efforts were not enough to dethrone the raigning pair.

Enter The French

The problem for all the other skaters taking part in the rhythm dance was that group four contained the reigning Olympic Champions, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. They blew the competition away, achieving a personal best of 92.74 and setting a tough benchmark for the remaining couples to aim for.

No pair from either group five or six managed to even come close to their score. Despite amazing skates, personal bests, and 80+ points scores, they were all far away from the standard set by Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron. Some of the best current ice dancers still waited to show their best on Championship ice; therefore, the question of the small podium was far from resolved.

The rhythm dance was concluded by a few truly impressive performances. In the end, although the pairs put their all on the ice, none was able to beat the score of the Olympic Champions. Canadian Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier came the closest with a new season best of 86.45. They were followed by British Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who managed to earn 85.09.

After the skate, the short program winners commented on their performance:

“It is a crazy atmosphere at the rink. It gives me butterflies—first of excitement, and then of gratitude for being here. We’ve delivered a beautiful performance” (Cizeron)

“We felt that the atmosphere of the arena was very magical, and I think that helped us to perform even better” (Fournier Beaudry)

End Of My Rhythm Dance Rant

The French pair dominated the rhythm dance, leaving the other couples with a big points deficit going into the free dance. The competition will continue on Saturday evening as the final scored event of the Prague World Championships.

This article first appeared on Stadium Rant and was syndicated with permission.

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