Paul Ayer (born April 6, 1998) is a Canadian ice dancer. With his former skating partner, Alicia Fabbri, he is a two-time Canadian national bronze medalist (2024–25) and the 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge bronze medalist.
At the junior level, they are the 2019 Canadian national junior silver medalists and the 2019 Bavarian Open junior silver medalists. They placed in the top nine at the 2019 World Junior Championships.
Personal life Ayer was born on April 6, 1998, in Calgary, Alberta. He is half Mexican-Canadian and speaks Spanish, French and English fluently. He has a younger brother named Alex. Ayer's father, who was a lawyer in Calgary, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He has taken online courses and plans to enroll in a university in Montreal in the future.
Ayer enjoys playing other sports with friends like football and hockey on outdoor rinks or lakes during the winter.
In April 2026, Ayer announced that he had acquired Mexican citizenship.
Career Early career Ayer began skating around 2007. He competed in only domestic events with his first three partners: Taylor Yanke, Nicola Salimova, and Jolie Che. Ayer and Che split at the end of the summer in 2017, and he spent about a year trying out with various partners before teaming up with Fabbri. He relocated from Calgary to Montreal to train full-time with Fabbri.
Partnership with Fabbri 2018–2019 season: Debut of Fabbri/Ayer
Fabbri/Ayer were assigned to two Junior Grand Prix events in their first season together. They placed fourth at 2018 JGP Slovakia and seventh at 2018 JGP Slovenia.
The team went on to place second at the 2019 Canadian Championships behind Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha. Together, they were named to the Canadian team for the 2019 World Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. At a tune-up event, the 2019 Bavarian Open, Fabbri/Ayer again won silver behind Lajoie/Lagha.
Fabbri/Ayer were thirteenth after the rhythm dance segment at the 2019 World Junior Championships but rallied with an eighth-place showing in the free dance to place ninth overall. Combined with Lajoie/Lagha's placement (first place), their rank qualified three ice dance spots for Canada at the 2020 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.
2019–2020 season: Senior international debut In July 2019, Fabbri/Ayer left coach Julien Lalonde to train with Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Haguenauer in Montreal. They made their senior international debut at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, where they placed sixth with personal bests in all segments.
2020–2021 season Fabbri/Ayer were assigned to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Skate Canada International, but the event was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
With the pandemic continuing to make it difficult to hold in-person events, Fabbri/Ayer competed at virtual domestic competitions, placing fifth at the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge. This result would have qualified them for the 2021 Canadian Championships, but they were cancelled due to the pandemic.
2021–2022 season Fabbri/Ayer returned to international competition after almost two years at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, placing twelfth. Given a second Challenger assignment, they were fifth at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria.
At the 2022 Canadian Championships, held in a bubble in Ottawa due to Omicron variant restrictions, Fabbri/Ayer finished in seventh place overall after being hampered by a fall in the closing seconds of their rhythm dance.
2022–2023 season: Grand Prix debut Skate Canada named Fabbri and Ayer to the senior national team for the first time in the lead-up to the new season. They ventured out internationally for the first time at the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy, where they finished in fourth place, 11.60 points behind bronze medalists Wolfkostin/Chen of the United States. Ayer assessed that they had given a "really strong performance in the rhythm dance and connected with the crowd," though faulting themselves for a free dance error. They were then invited to finally make the Grand Prix debut and came eighth at the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy. Ayer dislocated his shoulder in the practice sessions at the Wilson Trophy and, while they were able to finish the event by making modifications to their program, it was subsequently determined that he required surgery. As a result, they withdrew from the 2023 Canadian Championships.
2023–2024 season: Canadian national bronze
Following Ayer's recovery, Fabbri/Ayer started the season at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, coming ninth. They were given one Grand Prix assignment, the 2023 Skate Canada International, where they placed seventh.
Fabbri/Ayer won the silver medal at the Skate Canada Challenge, the final qualifier to the 2024 Canadian Championships. In advance of the championships, defending silver medalists Lajoie/Lagha withdrew due to Lajoie entering concussion protocol, whilst reigning champions Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen withdrew after the latter was revealed to be under investigation for sexual assault. The ice dance podium was thus considered more open than in recent years. Fabbri/Ayer won the bronze medal, reaching the senior national podium for the first time. They then ended their season with a bronze medal at the 2024 International Challenge Cup.
2024–2025 season: Four Continents and World Championships debut Fabbri/Ayer started the season with a sixth-place finish at the 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance International. They won the rhythm dance segment at the 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, before taking the bronze medal overall after a third-place free dance. This was the team's first-ever Challenger series medal. Fabbri said afterward that their "goal coming into the competition is always to focus on the competition, ourselves, and being better than what we were yesterday. When we're gifted with a medal at the end it’s even better, but it wasn't the main focus."
Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Fabbri/Ayer finished fourth in the rhythm dance at 2024 Skate America. In the free dance, Fabbri fell out of her twizzle sequence, as a result of which they finished tenth of ten teams in the segment and dropped to tenth overall. One week later, they competed at 2024 Skate Canada International where they finished eighth. In November, Fabbri/Ayer were given a second Challenger assignment, coming fourth at the 2024 CS Tallinn Trophy with new personal bests in all segments.
Fabbri/Ayer entered 2025 Canadian Championships as prospective contenders for the bronze medal. They were third in the rhythm dance with a score of 78.53, 0.44 points ahead of fellow Ice Academy of Montreal skaters Lauriault/Le Gac. They were third as well in the free dance, with a wider margin over fourth-place, reaching the senior national podium for the second time. Fabbri noted that compared with their first appearance, to medal with "nobody missing in front of us is just amazing."
Going on to compete at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea, Fabbri/Ayer finished in ninth place. They closed the season by making their World Championships debut at the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, where they finished twentieth place overall.
2025–2026 season Fabbri and Ayer opened the season by competing on the 2025–26 Challenger Series, placing fifth at the 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup and fourth at the 2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. Going on to compete on the 2025–26 Grand Prix series, Fabbri/Ayer finished ninth at the 2025 NHK Trophy and at 2025 Skate America.
In January, Fabbri and Ayer competed at the 2026 Canadian Championships, finishing in fourth. place.
On March 31, 2026, Fabbri and Ayer announced via Instagram that the team had decided to split after nearly a decade of skating together.
Partnership with Gauthier 2026-27 season In June 2026, it was announced that Ayer had paired with Sandrine Gauthier.
Programs
Ice dance with Alicia Fabbri Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition 2025–2026 Boombastic Oh Carolina Rock This Party Leave a Light On Barbie Girl I'm Just Ken Dance the Night 2024–2025 Jailhouse Rock Suspicious Minds Blue Suede Shoes It's a Man's Man's Man's World You Don't Own Me 2023–2024 Back in Black Hells Bells You Shook Me All Night Long Someone You Loved You Who Will Fill My Life Someone You Loved Burlesque Show Me How You Burlesque Welcome to Burlesque 2022–2023 Cuba 2012 Represent, Cuba Cuba 2012 2021–2022 Mi Gente Partition Self Portrait The Floating Bed Alcoba Azul Solo Tu 2020–2021 Show Me How You Burlesque Welcome to Burlesque 2019–2020 Big Spender If My Friends Could See Me Now The Way I Do Never Tear Us Apart 2018–2019 A Evaristo Carriego Obertuna Quand on n'a que l'amour Composition Quand on n'a que l'amour
Competitive highlights
Ice dance with Alicia Fabbri
Detailed results Ice dance with Alicia Fabbri
Senior level
Junior level 2018–2019 season Date Event RD FD Total March 4–10, 2019 2019 World Junior Championships 13 55.58 8 87.46 9 143.04 February 5–10, 2019 2019 Bavarian Open 2 58.54 3 86.10 2 144.64 January 14–20, 2019 2019 Canadian Junior Championships 2 62.20 3 96.37 2 158.57 October 3–6, 2018 2018 JGP Slovenia 6 53.20 8 78.21 7 131.41 August 22–25, 2018 2018 JGP Slovakia 4 58.53 6 77.13 4 135.66
References
External links