MONTREAL – Canadian pair Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps put forth an electrifying performance to lead the short programme at the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal.
Stellato-Dudek of Chicago and Deschamps of Quebec shattered their season best with a 77.48 score. The duo received a standing ovation from a mostly full lower bowl at the Bell Centre.
“This was our best short program of the year, and it being the programme that we chose as a tribute to Montreal, I´m very happy that we can give the audience a good ride,” Stellato-Dudek said after the performance.
“It was definitely the most emotional performance of my career up to now,” added Deschamps according to Reuters.
Defending champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan finished second (73.53) and Italy´s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii were third (72.88).
“Tomorrow´s a new day, a lot can happen in the long (programme),” Stellato-Dudek said. “We just need to focus on what we can do.”
Local pair Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier of Quebec placed 14th with a personal best 60.18 to also qualify.
The three Canadian pairs received loud applause from passionate partisan fans throughout their routines.
“It was a very, very special feeling,” said Ethier. “People were telling us how special it was going to be, but there was no way we could prepare for that. It gave us wings and it really helped us get through that program.
“I had goosebumps. I was skating, and I was telling myself to stay concentrated but to live in the moment and use that energy, but it was really special to have the whole crowd behind us.”
All three American pairs qualified. Ellie Kam and Danny O´Shea (64.44) advanced with a 10th-place finish, Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe (62.86) placed 12th, and Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez (61.64) finished 13th.
Belgium´s Loena Hendrickx, Isabeau Levito of the United States and Haein Lee of South Korea ranked first to third respectively after the women´s short programme.
Two-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan ranked fourth. She could be the first woman to three-peat since American Peggy Fleming from 1966 to 1968. American Amber Glenn was ninth after the short programme.
It´s Montreal´s first time hosting the event since 1932 and the first world championship on Canadian soil since 2013. Canada has hosted the competition 11 times.
Montreal was supposed to host the worlds in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the competition days before it was set to begin.
The Canadian pairs team delivered in it, too, skating to a career-best 77.48 short program to take the lead over reigning world champions Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi of Japan, who registered a 73.53.
Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii are third at 72.88.
It was an especially emotional performance for Deschamps, who grew up in Montreal and attended NHL hockey games in the very Bell Centre that they are competing in.
The duo was solid across their biggest elements, opening with a massive triple twist before hitting side-by-side triple toe-loops. Their throw triple loop came midway through the program, Stellato-Dudek throwing her arms behind her as she hit the landing.
She would be doing much the same a minute later when they finished, the arena brought to life – and to its feet – with their stirring skate.
“To have the support from the fans in the stands was really incredible,” Deschamps said. Added Stellato-Dudek: “It’s important to acknowledge the pressure. This is our home crowd, and this is where Max is from.
She laughed: “Many of my friends don’t watch figure skating, so I wanted to skate well so they thought I was cool.”
The Japanese, who had shined just prior to the Canadians, were steady in their return to the world stage after a year in which Kihara has struggled with a back injury. They missed the Grand Prix Series and the Japanese Championships, in December.
