Deanna Stellato-Dudek, 40, is already planning what the record books will look like.
鈥淐an I get a quote beside the record book? It’d be like, 鈥40 is the new 20,鈥 鈥 she said Thursday. 鈥淚t’s something I carry with pride. I’m very proud of it. I hope a lot of athletes stay around a lot longer.鈥
Stellato-Dudek won gold with Canadian pairs partner Maxime Deschamps at the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, becoming the oldest woman to hold a world title in the sport.
But her journey to get there 鈥 the 16-year break she took from the sport聽and her plan to switch nationalities 鈥 is even wilder.
Stellato-Dudek retired from skating at 17聽
Born in a suburb of Chicago, Stellato-Dudek began skating at the age of six and was a rising star in singles skating by the time she reached the upper levels of the sport in the late 1990s. She finished first in the 1999 junior Grand Prix final and won silver at the 2000 world junior championships in Germany.
But Stellato-Dudek was plagued by hip injuries, first missing two weeks in late 2000 then withdrawing from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in early 2001 with a pulled hip flexor. That injury and others persisted , she told IceNetwork in 2010.
“I remember the week I stopped,鈥 she said. 鈥淓very day I felt like I lost a triple because I was in so much pain.”
Stellato-Dudek was forced to retire at 17.聽
Leaving Botox and lip filler behind, Stellato-Dudek returns to skating
After hanging up her skates, Stellato-Dudek instead became a certified esthetician, doing 鈥淏otox and lip filler and all that fun stuff,鈥 she told the Associated Press. But at a work retreat more than a decade after retiring, a team-building exercise pulled her back.
鈥淭hey went round the table and they asked everyone what they would do if they knew they couldn鈥檛 fail,鈥 Stellato-Dudek told AP. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥業 would like to win an Olympic gold medal,鈥 and I couldn鈥檛 believe that just shot out my mouth because I wasn鈥檛 thinking and it just came right out.鈥
Once home, she went to find her skates, which had been gathering dust in the basement, and returned to the sport in 2016.
She was paired with American Nathan Bartholomay, who competed in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. They won bronze at the 2018 U.S. championships and Stellato-Dudek set her sights on the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a 16-year vacation,鈥 she told AP in 2018. 鈥淚 can go another four.鈥
Canada’s new champ isn’t even Canadian
When injuries to Bartholomay forced the pair to split, Stellato-Dudek instead paired up with Deschamps, from a Montreal suburb. With citizenship necessary to compete at the Olympic level 鈥 but not at the world championships 鈥 Stellato-Dudek is in the process of obtaining her Canadian citizenship in time for the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
In the meantime, the pair won gold at the 2023 and 2024 Canadian Championships, then Thursday鈥檚 world title.
“My younger self would think I’m crazy,鈥 she said. 鈥淪he wanted to win the 2006 Olympics, so she would be wondering why I’m going for the 2026 Olympics.”
With files from The Canadian Press.
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