Ice dancer Piper Gilles has more to celebrate than just making the 2026 Canadian Figure Skating Team at the 2026 Olympic Games. "I'm doing well, like, I'm currently cancer-free," Gilles, 34, said in Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing docuseries, which is now streaming on Netflix. "It took about two and a half years for me to feel like myself." She continued, "What I've learned was I had to be a little bit more patient with myself, like, I couldn't expect myself to be 100 percent Piper 'cause that 100 percent Piper isn't there anymore." Gilles was diagnosed with stage I ovarian cancer in January 2023 amid her career as a professional ice dancer. Olympic Athletes: Where Are They Now? "A few years ago, I started kind of feeling ill, just nauseous and, like, period-like pains, specifically on the left side," Gilles explained of her early symptoms. "I always had bad periods, but I was, like, 'I'm not having my period right now, but something's happening.' Then, [I] eventually got in contact with my current doctor. On my birthday, January 16th, 2023, the results came in. Of course, I opened it, and I was, like, 'Oh, cancer.'" Gilles, whose mother died in 2018 after battling brain cancer, further recalled how her own diagnosis felt "so, so scary." "It's like, 'Am I gonna have to stop skating? Am I going to have to go through chemo?' There was so much unknown," she said. "I was lucky enough to just have surgery, like, we didn't know how bad it was because it was a nine-centimeter cyst with the tumor, I believed, attached to it. I got really lucky to not have to do any other treatment, just follow-ups." According to Gilles, she "fought" extra hard in her late mom's honor. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier perform in the Ice Dance Free Dance competition during the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Finland on November 22, 2025. Mikko Stig / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUT "I fought to just live the life that she couldn't see, you know?" Gilles tearfully said in an interview for Glitter & Gold. "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." Gilles has been partnered with Paul Poirier since 2011, going on to compete together at the Olympic Games in 2018 and 2022, respectively. They will represent Canada again on the ice during the 2026 Games later this month, facing off against ice dancing rivals Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. Behind-the-Scenes on Team USA's Dramatic Journey to the 2026 Winter Olympics "I'm glad I get to go through the hard stuff 'cause the alternative is way worse," Gilles added. "On this 15-year journey of ours, Paul is my stable, loyal friend [and] partner. I wouldn't be where I am without him. You just take this leap of faith that you found the right partner, and I know I definitely did." Poirier, 34, is equally grateful to have a supportive partner in Gilles. "I'm just so struck by how unique the lives that we've been able to live are," Poirier said in the docuseries. "Those experiences, those stories, those relationships [are] the things that I'm gonna cherish most." Glitter & Gold: Ice Dancing is now streaming on Netflix.