“Happy to represent Millennials and women over 40”

Deanna Stellato-Dudek's long road to her first Olympic appearance culminated on Sunday, February 15 in Milan, when she performed in the short program of the pair test alongside Maxime Deschamps.

At the end of the evolution, a less successful one, the Canadian told reporters that she was proud of the fact that she is the oldest person to compete in figure skating at the Olympics in almost a century.

Stellato-Dudek, 42, retired from the sport for 16 years before returning in 2016, and in 2024 won the world title at the edition hosted by Montreal in the pairs event with Deschamps.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek: “We're constantly underrated”

“I am always very happy to represent Millennials and women over 40she said.We are constantly underestimated and told no. There wasn't a single person who told me I could do what I did when I started“, he added, quoted by Reuters.

“So the fact that I persevered and made it here I hope will give others the courage to do something different in their lives when the world is against them“, she emphasized.

However, the big moment of the Olympic debut did not come with a flawless performance. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps had a costly and unexpected crash right at the end of their program and finished with 66.04 points, ranking 14th ahead of the free program scheduled for Monday, February 16, in which 16 couples will compete for medals.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and the fall from the short program at the 2026 Olympics Photo: Guliver/GettyImages

“It was a total surprise, because that never happened in training,” Stellato-Dudek said of the fall, which occurred while exiting the reverse lasso lift.

“But I think we recovered well. I'm very proud of our performance considering everything we went through before that mistake. We're one of the best lifters in the world so it was very unfortunate for us to make that mistake because that's usually where we score points, not lose them“, she explained

Stellato-Dudek's preparation for her Olympic debut was cut short after she hit her head during training late last month, which cast doubts over her participation in Milan and forced her to miss last week's team event.

Deanne Stellato-Dudek, 16 years gap and change of citizenship

Born in Park Ridge, Illinois (USA), Deanna Stellato she started to practice figure skating at the age of 5, and in 2000 she became world vice-champion in juniors. That same year he made his senior debut, but in November he injured his right hip during the Skate Canada International competition.

Returning to practice a few weeks later, he suffered a flexor strain in the same hip. He accumulated four different medical problems in his hip, a torn ligament in his right ankle and a fracture in his left, which is why he retired from competitive activity in 2000.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (centre), world champions in 2024 Photo: Imago Images

He studied for a degree in cosmetology and worked as an esthetics director at the Geldner Center in Chicago. After 16 years of absence, he returned to skating, starting a partnership with Nathan Bartolomay. They won bronze at the 2018 US Nationals, the same year they participated in the World Championships, where they did not advance to the free program.

In 2019, due to Bartholomay's injuries, they stopped collaborating. After much fumbling – “I called every trainer I've ever met in my life to see if anyone was available” -, learned about Canadian Maxime Deschamps, now 34 years old.

That's how their collaboration began and, with participation in the 2026 Olympics in mind, Stellato-Dudek applied for Canadian citizenship, which he received in 2024. It would have been much more difficult for Deschamps to obtain the American one. And in the end they managed to reach the Olympic Games in Milan Cortina.