Canadians top pairs' short program at figure skating worlds, eye age history
Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps lead the pairs' event after the short program at the world figure skating championships. Stellato-Dudek, 40, can become the oldest world champion in any event in decades.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps tallied a personal best 77.48 points in Wednesday's short in Montreal.
They lead defending champions Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara of Japan by 3.95 points going into Thursday's free skate.
Stellato-Dudek was the 2000 World junior silver medalist in singles for the U.S. She retired in 2001 due to injuries, came back in pairs in 2016, then switched to Canada in 2021.
FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule
Last season, Stellato-Dudek became the oldest skater to win a Grand Prix event, teaming with Deschamps to take Grand Prix France. They placed fourth at last year's worlds.
This season, they won two fall Grand Prix events, then placed third at December's Grand Prix Final.
On Wednesday, they upped their personal best short program score by 4.45 points.
The U.S. pairs were 10th, 12th and 13th in Wednesday's short, led by national champions Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea.
To keep three spots for the 2025 Worlds, the top two U.S. pairs' results must add up to 13 or better (sixth and seventh, for example). To earn two spots for 2025 Worlds, the top two U.S. results must add up to 28 or better.
Worlds continue later Wednesday with the women's short program, live on Peacock at 5 p.m. ET.
