Canadian figure skater reveals scary injury that kept her out of Olympics before dramatic return
She was on the cusp of making Olympic history for Canada before her dreams were put on hold.
Days before the beginning of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Deanna Stellato-Dudek suffered an injury that forced her out of the team figure skating event.
On Tuesday, however, Team Canada announced that Stellato-Dudek and partner Maxime Deschamps will travel to Milan to compete in the mixed pairs event.
Her presence at the Olympics ensures that she will officially become the oldest woman to compete in figure skating at the games in 98 years.
Team Canada also revealed the injury that forced Stellato-Dudek to miss the beginning of the Olympics.
Apparently, the 42-year-old hit her head on the ice during a training session in Quebec. Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud were called upon to replace Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps for the team event in their place.
Stellato-Dudek has reportedly been cleared by the Canadian medical staff to compete at the Olympics. She and Deschamps will fly to Milan on Wednesday.
āI want to thank everyone for their interest and support,” Stellato-Dudek said in a press release. “Iāve been working closely with the medical team, and I feel ready, and Iām really looking forward to competing.”
The duo will arrive in Milan on Thursday, giving them two full days to compete before their first Olympic skate on Sunday, Feb. 15.
This isn’t the first time that Stellato-Dudek has dealt with injury issues. She was originally a teenage figure skating phenom before chronic hip issues forced her retirement in 2000 at the age of 17.
She was out of the sport for 16 years before returning competitively once again back in 2016.
Even her partner, Deschamps, was on the verge of retiring from the sport before he teamed up with Stellato-Dudek back in 2019.
The pair won the 2024 World Figure Skating Championship and the 2024 Four Continents Championship.
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They’ll be an easy duo to cheer on when they strive to make their fairytale-like run to the podium.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps will compete in the short program on Sunday, Feb. 15. On Monday, Feb. 16, they’ll perform in the free program before the Olympic-medal winners are announced for the event later that day.