Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto won gold in ice dancing at the 23rd Ondrej Nepela Trophy figure skating competition in Bratislava, Slovakia on Saturday.

The event was the third stop on the ISU Challenger Series circuit.

Third after Friday's short dance, Gilles and Poirier were the last skaters to perform and shot to the top of the standings with a strong free dance to finish first with 159.14 points.

It is the first international victory for the couple which formed in 2011. They have finished second three times on the Grand Prix circuit and second at the 2014 Four Continents.

Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland of Britain finished second with 156.22, while Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the U.S. were third with 154.34.

Russian skaters swept the women's event with Evgenia Medvedeva first, Anna Pogorilaya second and Maria Artemieva third.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was less than six points from the podium with 171.72 points, but settled for fourth.

In the men's competition, Jason Brown of the U.S. prevented another Russian sweep placing first. Three Russians followed including Mikhail Kolyada in second and Gordei Gorshkov in third.

Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., was fifth.

The fourth stop on the Challenger Series circuit is this upcoming weekend in Espoo, Finland.