Deanna Stellato-Dudek

Biography

Deanna Stellato-Dudek made history when she won gold at the 2024 ISU World Figure Skating Championships alongside pairs partner Maxime Deschamps. At 40 years old, she became the oldest woman in any discipline to ever win a world title in figure skating.

Stellato-Dudek moved to the Montreal area in 2019 to pursue a partnership with Deschamps. That was three years after she had returned to competitive figure skating following 16 years off the ice.

In her younger years, Stellato-Dudek had been a promising singles skater, winning silver at the 2000 ISU World Junior Championships while representing the United States. But a strained hip flexor later that year, the latest in a series of injuries, led her to retire.

In 2016, she was working as an aesthetician. During a team building exercise at a business retreat, a question was asked: What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? She surprised herself by responding: Win an Olympic gold medal. Two weeks later, she dug her skates out of the basement and resumed training. It was recommended to her that she try pairs, which presented the challenge of learning many new elements. She began competing with American Nathan Bartholomay during the 2016-17 season and together they won bronze medals at the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Championships before the partnership was dissolved. A few weeks later, she did a tryout with Deschamps. They both felt immediately that the partnership had potential.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps competed at their first national championships as a pair in 2020 and made their international debut in the fall of 2021. After winning bronze at the 2022 Canadian Championships, they finished fourth at their first ISU Four Continents Championships.  

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps debuted on the ISU Grand Prix series in the fall of 2022. They won two medals, including a gold at the Grand Prix de France, and qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final where they finished fourth. After winning their first national title in early 2023, they finished fourth in their debut at the ISU World Championships.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps had an outstanding 2023-24 season to lead up to their victory at the world championships on home ice in Montreal. They won both of their Grand Prix events and took bronze at the Grand Prix Final. They also won gold at the 2024 Four Continents Championships.

Carrying the world champion title into 2024-25, Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps again won both of their Grand Prix events, but they had to withdraw from the Grand Prix Final after Deschamps was struck with an illness. They did have something to celebrate in December 2024, however, as Stellato-Dudek took her oath of Canadian citizenship. After winning their third straight national title in 2025, they won silver at the Four Continents Championships before placing fifth at the world championships. 

They won gold and silver in their two Grand Prix events in the fall of 2025 before finishing sixth at the Grand Prix Final.

A Little More About Deanna

Getting into the Sport: Started figure skating at age 6… Outside Interests: Enjoys cooking and skincare and is always looking for ways to improve her wellbeing… Odds and Ends: Has a maltipoo named Goldy… Favourite quote: “The only limits you have are the ones you set on yourself”…