Canadian Ice Skater Becomes Oldest Female World Figure Skating Champion at Age 40

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and her partner Maxime Deschamp claimed the pairs title in Montreal Thursday night

Deanna Stellato-Dudek made figure skating history Thursday night, becoming the oldest female figure skater to win a World Figure Skating Championship title at age 40.

Stellato-Dudek and her partner, Maxime Deschamps, of Canada edged out the 2023 world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan for the 2024 title.

Stellato-Dudek was born in Illinois and represented the U.S., first as a singles skater, winning the U.S. novice title back in 1999, the same year Michelle Kwan won the senior title. After retiring at age 17, Stellato-Dudek returned as a pairs skater for the U.S. and eventually paired up with Deschamp, 32, in 2019.

The Canadians had a commanding lead after the short program with a score of 77.48, nearly four points ahead of the Japanese skaters.

Miura and Kihara actually won the free skate portion on Thursday night, but couldn't overtake Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps' lead.

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Ironically, both teams had minor issues with singles skating elements, with Stellato-Dudek flipping out of her triple toe loop-single Axel-double Axel jump series and Miura doubling her triple Salchow jump as well.

But the Canadians undoubtedly had the support of the home crowd, who gave their skaters a standing ovation even before their vampire-themed program finished.

Miura and Kihara settled for the silver, with Germans Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin taking the bronze.

Stellato-Dudek was overcome with emotion when the results were announced.

She thanked the crowd in French and then added in English, "I am even more happy, it's a dream come true."

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With the world title, Stellato-Dudek becomes the oldest female athlete in any skating discipline (singles, pairs or ice dancing) to win a world championship. She tops the record set by Ludowika Jakobsson, who won a pairs title for Finland in 1923 at age 38, per skating historian and sports journalist Phil Hersh.

In a post-event interview, she added: “(This record) is 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 it's something I carry with pride, and 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 reach their potential and I hope it transcends into other areas, not just in sports, but also in other areas of life, like work and professional careers.”

The pair have set their sights on the 2026 Winter Olympics, which Stellato-Dudek hopes she will have her Canadian citizenship in time for.

The 2024 World Figure Skating Championships continue through the weekend.

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