Figure skating-Stellato-Dudek proud after making long-awaited Olympic debut

Advertisement Sport Figure skating-Stellato-Dudek proud after making long-awaited Olympic debut Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Pair Skating - Short Program - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 15, 2026. Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Canada after falling during her performance with Maxime Deschamps of Canada during the Short Program. REUTERS/Claudia Greco 16 Feb 2026 08:00AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST MILAN, Feb 15 : Deanna Stellato-Dudek's long road to the Olympics culminated in Milan on Sunday, and the Canadian told reporters she was proud to be the oldest person to compete in figure skating at a Games in nearly a century. Stellato-Dudek, 42, stepped away from the sport for 16 years before returning in 2016, and went on to win the 2024 world title in pairs alongside Maxime Deschamps."I'm always really happy to represent for the Millennials and the women in their 40s," she said."We're constantly underestimated and we're always told no. There's not one person that told me that I could achieve this when I started," she said. Subscribe to CNA's Recommended Read A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day. This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners. Loading "So the fact that I persevered and was able to be here, I hope gives other people courage to do something else in their lives when people are fighting against them."The milestone moment, however, did not come with a clean performance. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps suffered a costly, unexpected fall late in their programme and finished with 66.04 points, placing 14th heading into Monday's free skate, where 16 teams will compete for medals."It was a complete surprise because that has never even happened in practice," Stellato-Dudek said of the fall, which came on the exit of the reverse lasso lift. "But I thought we recovered well. I am really proud of the performance considering all that we've been through, before that mistake. "We're one of the best lifters in the world, so that was like so unfortunate for us in particular to have that error because that's usually where we rack up points, not lose them." Stellato-Dudek's build-up to her Olympic debut was disrupted after she hit her head in training late last month, raising doubts about whether she would compete in Milan and forcing her to miss the team event last week.Despite the setback in Sunday's skate, Deschamps said they would refocus quickly with the free skate approaching."It's a new day tomorrow," he said. "We were really proud of everything we have done. It's unfortunate with the mistake, but we're just going to go out there again tomorrow, enjoy the moments, skate together as a team and enjoy that experience." Source: Reuters Newsletter Recommended Read Subscribe to CNA's Recommended Read A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day. Sign up for our newsletters Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox Subscribe here Get the CNA app Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories Download here Get WhatsApp alerts Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app Join here Advertisement Also worth reading Content is loading... Advertisement Expand to read the full story Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST