Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps captured gold in the pairs competition Thursday night at the world figure skating championships.
The 40-year-old Stellato-Dudek became the oldest women's figure skater to win a world title.
"Can I get like a quote beside the record book? It'd be like, '40 is the new 20,'" Stellato-Dudek said. "That's what I'd like to say. It's not something that I ever set out to do when I came back to skating but I knew that if I were to accomplish my dreams, it would inevitably occur because I'm the oldest everywhere.
"But I mean, It's something I carry with pride. I'm very proud of it. I hope a lot of athletes stay around a lot longer. I hope it encourages people to not stop before they've reached their potential."
The two-time national champions posted a personal-best total score of 221.56 after skating to “Interview With a Vampire” in the free program.
They’re the first Canadian pair to win gold since Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016.
“This, for me, is really a dream come true,” Stellato-Dudek said.
It’s also her first medal at a senior worlds. A singles silver medallist at the 2000 world junior championship, she retired at 17 due to a chronic hip injury but revived her career 16 years later as a pairs skater. In 2019, she moved to Montreal and joined forces with Deschamps.
"I find it incredible what she accomplished today, we had a lot of pressure, a lot of nerves, for us it was the most pressure we've ever faced, so to see what she's accomplished at the age she's at is incredible," Deschamps said.
They placed first in the short program on Wednesday to give themselves a 3.95-point cushion and followed it up with a personal-best 144.08 in the free program to dethrone defending champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan.
Miura and Kihara had the best score in the free program but finished with silver (217.88). Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Has and Nikita Volodin took bronze (210.40).
Stellato-Dudek of Chicago and Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., received a standing ovation from the Bell Centre crowd before they even finished the program. Fans held up Canadian flags and “Go Deanna & Max” signs to support the hometown duo.
Though American, Stellato-Dudek is confident she’ll receive Canadian citizenship and represent her new home at the 2026 Olympics.
Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., finished eighth (186.93).
Local pair Kelly Ann Laurin of Saint-Jerome, Que., and Loucas Ethier of St-Alphonse, Que., were 15th (169.48) in their world championship debut.
On Friday, ice dancers compete in the rhythm dance during the day session followed by the women’s free program in the evening. Two-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan is in fourth after the free program. Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx is ranked first.
The world championships go through the men’s free program on Saturday night.
It’s Montreal’s first time hosting the event since 1932. The city was supposed to host the worlds in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the competition.
STARTING OUT STRONG
Two-time defending champion Shoma Uno of Japan is on the right track to a three-peat after placing first in the men’s short program earlier Thursday.
Uno led the pack with a 107.72 score. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama — the 2022 Olympic silver medallist — was second (106.35) ahead of American Ilia Malinin (105.97).
"I could have performed a lot better, and a few minor things here and there I could have really done them a lot better," Malinin, this year’s top-ranked men’s skater, said. "But overall I'm just happy with my score."
Malinin, a bronze medallist at last year's world championship, said the last few weeks have been a "really tough challenge" because he hasn't felt well. Asked if it was an injury or illness, the 19-year-old said "both," but wouldn't specify further.
"I was even worried about if I wasn't able to come to worlds," he said. "It was definitely really hard. Some days I'd have to miss practice. Last week we had a talk and I just decided I want to go, I'm going to try my best no matter how I feel."
Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., wowed the home crowd and posted 84.28 points, shattering his previous season-best of 72.44 to finish 11th.
"I just felt myself," Sadovsky said. "I felt in the zone, every moment felt really good."
The 24-year-old was 12th at the 2022 world championships.
Canadian champion Wesley Chiu of Vancouver was 18th (78.00).
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