These 2026 Winter Olympics figure skaters are bringing the queer energy we need
Here at the the figure skaters brining us joy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. (Getty)
The 2026 Winter Olympics are firmly underway and the ice figure skaters are bringing us life and the queer energy we need right now!
Just days into the Milano Cortina Games and things are already heating up on the ice rink in Milan as several skaters have been bringing their best to the competition. And it really shows!
After performing on Friday (6 February) in the Ice Dance – Rhythm Dance event, Canada’s Paul Poirier and Piper Gilles’ routine circulated around the internet filling multiple feeds. The pair danced to a mash up of RuPaul’s “Supermodel (You Better Work)” and Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy”.
And when we say it’s stunning, it’s stunning! The program is full of death defying twirls, lifts, and jumps. There’s some hairography and even a bit of voguing before the routine closes as RuPaul demands: “You better work.”
The two, who ranked second in the 2025 ISU World Championships last year, earned a score of 85.79, a season best and finished in fourth place. They will compete again later today (Monday 9 February). Milano Cortina marks Gilles and Poirier’s third consecutive Olympics. The pair finished eighth in PyeongChang in 2018 and seventh in Beijing in 2022.
As a gay man, Poirier is one of several out-LGBTQ+ figure skaters competing at the Milano Cortina games. Alongside him is Britain’s Lewis Gibson, also gay, who competed in the same event with his partner, Lilah Fear.
The pair pipped Canada to third place finishing on Friday with a score of 86.85. They earned the impressive score for a sublime routine set to a medley of Spice Girls songs including “Wannabe”, “Who Do You Think You Are”, and “Spice Up Your Life”.
Fear and Gibson paid homage to the British icons in their outfits with Fear sporting a version of Geri’s iconic Union Jack dress while Gibson wore a Mel B-inspired leopard print look.
The pair finished 10th in Beijing in 2022, the same year Gibson came out, and landed in third place at last year’s ISU World Championships.
In the Men’s Single Skating – Short Program event on Saturday (7 February), France’s Kevin Aymoz finished in fourth place with a score of 88.05. He danced to Lady Gaga’s “Judas” in a spectacular routine.
One of two out gay figure skaters representing France, Aymoz, who came out publicly in 2021, ranked in 12th place in Beijing and is due to compete again on Tuesday (10 February).
The seven times French national champion’s program is the latest in a number of other showstopping routines.
All in all, the figure skaters are bringing it!
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