The 2024 World Figure Skating Championships kicked off on March 18, 2024, with the hope of crowning the best skater pair. Despite the world setting its eyes on the defending champs Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, it had to sing praises of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and partner Maxime Deschamps.

Stellato-Dudek, fresh off her 2024 Four Continents Championships win, secured the highly anticipated Worlds title. But that is not the only achievement for her. Leading by 3.95 points, the pair representing Canada gracefully flew to the nab the pole position. The roar of applause among the Montreal crowd kept upping as the Illinois native not only won the title but also made a rare history.

Who is Deanna Stellato-Dudek?

With the 2024 Worlds win came another history-making moment. The 40-year-old became the oldest figure skating woman to have won the World title. This feat has not only cemented her status but also made NBC Olympics and Paralympics write on X, “Age is just a number”. Someone who hates “being underestimated” was on the lookout to prove herself to the global crowd.

In a recent podcast with The Iron Butterfly podcast, Dudek opened up on the importance of keeping “close-knit people around’. The 2x US National bronze medalist previously competed for the US with partner Nathan Bartholomay. Eight years ago, the 2020 World Junior Championships was hit by the realization that she had more to achieve.

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Who would know that working as an esthetician in a retreat would reignite Olympic dreams? In Chicago, she resumed competing with her new partner, Bartholomay. After earning several podiums, Bartholomay sat out in the wake of injuries, thus leaving Dudek’s side. In 2022, Deanna Stellato-Dudek won her first international title ( 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy) with her current partner Deschamps.

‘Grit determination’ sailed her boat

A respiratory syncytial viral infection tried to plague her growing career in 2023. But defying all odds, she and her partner went for the win at the 2023 Canadian Championships. The oldest history maker isn’t just relying on skating finesse to attract wins, though. “You can change careers in your 30s, 40s, 50s. Grit determination, they don’t have an age limit, either”, said Dudek to Olympics.com.

The Skate America 2022 saw the dynamic skater secure the silver, making her the oldest medalist in the history of the Grand Prix. “I took a huge chance; made a huge jump. But I am happy every day when I go into work”. This is the main mantra that Dudek resorts to daily. For her, the ‘age no bar’ was a holy phrase when she asked her mother to grab her dusty stakes after 16 years of hiatus.

Defying Age Limitations, American Figure Skater Vows To Make Olympics: “You’re Gonna Respect Me”