Winter Olympics 2026: Canadian Figure Skater Wins Olympic Medal After Surviving Ovarian Cancer, Why Early Detection Matters

Winter Olympics 2026: Canadian figure skater Piper Gilles found out about her health issue on her 31st birthday. Interestingly, this is the first Olympic medal for Gilles and her skating partner, Paul Poirier.

Winter Olympics 2026: Canadian figure skater Piper Gilles, 34, cried tears of joy after winning a bronze medal in ice dance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, following an ovarian cancer diagnosis three years earlier. The 34-year-old Olympic athlete told the media that she never could have envisioned the moment when her medical ordeal began. This is the first Olympic medal for Gilles and her skating partner, Paul Poirier.

After the performance at the ongoing Winter Olympics 2026, the Canadian figure skater on Wednesday said, "I think it's a great example for anybody going through any sort of dark time, mental health or health issues, that you can do hard things no matter what. You can just get out of bed and keep believing in yourself and keep chasing your dreams, then anything can happen."

How Did Piper Gilles Find Out About Her Cancer

The 34-year-old Olympic athlete found out about her health issue on her 31st birthday. At the time of her Ovarian cancer diagnosis (Jan. 16, 2023), Gilles was at stage 1 of the life-threatening disease. Talking about her experience, which she discussed in the new Netflix documentary titled 'Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing', the Canadian figure skater said, "It was so, so scary".

"I started kind of feeling ill just nauseous and period-like pains, specifically on the left side," Gilles further said. "I slowly ramped up my training while wearing a pregnancy compression belt to keep everything secure."

Gilles, who lost her mother, Bonnie, to glioblastoma brain cancer in 2018 said, "If she could see me and what I'm up to, she'd be proud. It just made me appreciate every moment in life. It's like, every day I get to wake up and go to the rink, it's a blessing even if it's hard. I'm glad I get to go through the hard stuff because the alternative is way worse."

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Why Early Detection Matters

On 20th December, 2025, the Canadian figure skater took to Instagram to share how early detection helped save her life. She wrote, "Three years ago today, I underwent surgery only to learn a few weeks later that it was stage 1 ovarian cancer. Because it was caught early, I'm here healthy, skating, and filled with gratitude."

The Olympic athlete said, "Early detection saved my life, and it's why continuing to work with Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation means so much to me. Helping spread awareness and encouraging people to listen to their bodies is something I hold very close to my heart Please take care of yourselves. Getting checked can make all the difference."

The National Institute of Health (NIH) notes there are 204,000 cases of ovarian cancer incidence, with 125,000 deaths. It states, "In developed countries, ovarian cancer remains the most lethal of all gynecologic malignancies. One of the reasons for the high fatality rate is that more than 70 per cent of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed with advanced disease. There is a close correlation between stage at presentation and survival; therefore, early detection of ovarian cancer represents the best hope for mortality reduction and long-term disease control."

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