Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada skate their short program in the pairs competition at the Skate Canada International at the Scotiabank Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Oct. 25, 2024.GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images
Deanna Stellato-Dudek felt the pressure of competing as a world champion at home.
The boisterous Canadian crowd only added to it as she and Maxime Deschamps took the ice on Friday night.
“I actually noticed the difference in volume from our announcement versus everybody else’s. It was that noticeable,” Stellato-Dudek said. “I felt stressed, and just wanted to do well.”
Those nerves hardly showed as the Canadian pair picked up where they left off on home soil, placing first in the short program at Skate Canada International seven months after capturing world championship gold in Montreal.
Skating to a remix of Beyoncé’s Crazy In Love, Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps scored 73.23 at Scotiabank Centre to kick off their second competition of the season.
“Going out there, being in front of our home crowd, for the first time since Worlds – that was great,” Deschamps said. “We did a lot of stuff that we improved since the last competition, and we’re happy with that.”
A minor stumble on their throw triple loop prevented them from reaching their goal of “high 70s.”
But after claiming silver at the Nebelhorn Trophy in September, they’ll be in the driver’s seat to repeat as gold medalist at Skate Canada with an 8.41-point lead over the competition.
Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany finished second (64.82) and Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia were third (64.81).
“We accomplished all the things that we wanted to accomplish here,” Stellato-Dudek said. “But we didn’t put the throw on the list, apparently.”
The 41-year-old Stellato-Dudek – who’s from Chicago but is in the process of acquiring Canadian citizenship – and the 32-year-old of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., formed an unlikely partnership in 2019.
Stellato-Dudek left the sport for 15 years and returned in 2016 before eventually becoming Deschamps’ ninth partner.
Now world champions, the ageless skaters insist they’re looking ahead with a razor-sharp focus on the 2026 Olympics.
But, with the help of sports psychologists, they’re also learning how to deal with their new reality and expectations as the best team in the world.
“I definitely feel the pressure, but pressure really comes from yourself,” Stellato-Dudek said. “I’ve always put pressure on myself, but I do feel it more this year, and I’m trying to work on it actually, because it’s very hard.”
Later Friday, Kaori Sakamoto of Japan dominated with a dynamic tango routine to take a hefty lead in the women’s short program.
The three-time world champion scored 74.97 ahead of Alysa Liu of the U.S. (67.68), who competed in her first Grand Prix event since retiring in April 2022. Kimmy Repond of Switzerland (66.94) was third.
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., finished fifth, falling just shy of the top three with 65.28 after a joyful, error-free skate to music from The Lion King.
After an up-and-down last season, the 21-year-old Schizas was all smiles when she nailed her first two jumps. At the end of the program, she pumped her firsts and exclaimed “Yes!” into the crowd.
“It was a good skate for me. Strong performance,” Schizas said. “I was happy with how it was going, but also it’s a joyful piece of music. It’s hard not to smile.”
Between using the same program over the show season and starting her season early, Schizas said she’s already nearing 20 Lion King performances.
“That’s a big help. I know the music so well, and so all of that gives me confidence,” she said.
“I haven’t watched the movie in its entirety. I’m just gonna fess that up.”
A year ago, Schizas posted a career-best during the long program at Skate Canada in Vancouver. She’ll hope for another stellar performance with a podium finish within reach in Halifax.
“It’s so close here,” she said. “I’m right in the mix, I just gotta you know hang on for tomorrow.”
Reigning national champion Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary was seventh (57.66), while Montreal’s Sara-Maude Dupuis placed ninth (54.15) in the 12-skater field.
Kelly Ann Laurin of Saint-Jerome, Que., and Loucas Ethier of St-Alphonse, Que., ranked last in the eight-team pairs competition (52.16).
The rhythm dance and men’s short programs take place Saturday afternoon, followed by the pairs and women’s free programs in the evening. The competition wraps up Sunday afternoon with the men’s free skate and the free dance.
The Grand Prix, the top series in figure skating, consists of six events and a final. Skate Canada is the second of the event this year after the circuit kicked off at Skate America last week.
REFLECTING ON TRIUMPHS
When Ilia Malinin stunned the crowd with his world championship performance in Montreal last March, he left the competition with much more than a gold medal hanging around his neck.
The American figure skating star also took home a new sense of the heights he could reach.
“Before I was not really so sure of what my skill level was and where I can push it,” Malinin said. “But now I’m starting to really figure it out.”
If Malinin is only figuring it out now, his competition should be worried. He landed six quad jumps – including his unmatched quad axel – to post a record-breaking free program in Montreal.
The 19-year-old phenom, who’s back north of the border at Skate Canada International this weekend, revealed after worlds that he’d been fighting a left foot injury that almost kept him out of the competition.
“I was not even so sure if I’d go,” he said. “So I pat myself on the back for that whole, three-four weeks before and at worlds. That just shows how strong I am as a person and inside.
“And ever since that, I just got a lot more discipline and energy to just keep pushing myself.”
But with that historic showing comes heightened expectations that Malinin is still learning to handle.
He felt it last week at Skate America, where he had to alter his free skate on the fly because of an early mistake, though he won his third consecutive title anyway.
Now in Halifax for his second Grand Prix after a very quick turnaround between competitions, he’s sensing it again.
“I feel a little more pressure from being the world champion,” Malinin said. “I’m going to have to try to find a new tactic to take that on so that I don’t feel as pressured or nervous.”
Another thing Malinin is working on is his artistry. The “Quad God’s” technical abilities are unparalleled on an ice surface, but he acknowledged other areas need improvement.
“This year I think the main goal was to try to do something outside of my box, to really try to get that artistic and that creativeness and really just stick to that component mark,” he said.
Not only is Malinin back on Canadian soil, he’s returning to a location that has a significant place in his family history.
Malinin’s mother, Tatiana Malinina, and father, Roman Skorniakov, competed for Uzbekistan at the inaugural Four Continents Championships in Halifax in 1999.
BETTER START
Canada’s Roman Sadovsky is already off to a better start this season – but the bar was low after a strange string of events derailed the first half of last season.
The 25-year-old men’s skater began last season with an ankle injury. He then missed one event because he lost his luggage, including his skates, on his way to the Warsaw Cup, and another when his plane couldn’t land due to a snowstorm. He didn’t do a full competition until nationals in January.
This season, he has two competitions under his belt heading into Skate Canada.
“We’re already, like, 10 steps ahead from last season, so that’s pretty exciting,” he said. “The whole goal was just getting more competition exposure and building, instead of just showing up at nationals all of a sudden.”
BACKFLIPS?
This season, backflips are no longer banned by the International Skating Union. Malinin has already added them to his repertoire, and a quick survey of Canadian skaters shows others may follow suit. “I’ve always wanted to,” Canadian women’s champion Kaiya Ruiter said. “Even just for a show, like okay, yeah, in an exhibition, I want to try that. But now that it’s in the rules, like, go for it!” Sadovsky would also like to learn one, but he isn’t sure about pulling it off with his 6-foot-1 frame can fold backwards safely in competition. “I don’t know – I feel like I’m a little tall,” he said. “I’m going to hold off for now.