MONTREAL (AP) 鈥� Canada鈥檚 Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps captured gold in the pairs competition Thursday night at the world figure skating championships.
The two-time national champions posted a personal-best total score of 221.56 after skating to 鈥淚nterview With a Vampire鈥� in the free program.
They on Wednesday to give themselves a 3.95-point cushion and followed it up with a personal-best 144.08 in the free program to dethrone defending champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan.
Miura and Kihara had the best score in the free program but finished with silver (217.88). Germany鈥檚 Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin took bronze (210.40).
Stellato-Dudek of Chicago and Deschamps of Quebec received a standing ovation from the Bell Centre crowd before they even finished the program. Fans held up Canadian flags and 鈥淕o Deanna & Max鈥� signs to support the hometown duo.
They鈥檙e the first Canadian pair to win gold since Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016.
鈥淭his, for me, is really a dream come true,鈥� Stellato-Dudek said.
The 40-year-old Stellato-Dudek became the oldest woman figure skater to win a world title.
鈥淐an I get like a quote beside the record book? It鈥檇 be like, 鈥�40 is the new 20,鈥欌�� Stellato-Dudek said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檇 like to say. It鈥檚 not something that I ever set out to do when I came back to skating but I knew that if I were to accomplish my dreams, it would inevitably occur because I鈥檓 the oldest everywhere.
鈥淏ut I mean, It鈥檚 something I carry with pride. I鈥檓 very proud of it. I hope a lot of athletes stay around a lot longer. I hope it encourages people to not stop before they鈥檝e reached their potential.鈥�
It鈥檚 also her first medal at a senior worlds. A singles silver medalist at the 2000 world junior championship, she retired at 17 due to a chronic hip injury but revived her career 16 years later as a pairs skater. In 2019, she moved to Montreal and joined forces with Deschamps.
鈥淚 find it incredible what she accomplished today. We had a lot of pressure, a lot of nerves. For us, it was the most pressure we鈥檝e ever faced, so to see what she鈥檚 accomplished at the age she鈥檚 at is incredible,鈥� Deschamps said.
Though American, Stellato-Dudek is confident she鈥檒l receive Canadian citizenship and represent her new home at the 2026 Olympics.
Earlier in the day, Japan鈥檚 Shoma Uno, the two-time defending champion, placed first in the men鈥檚 short program with a 107.72 score.
Japan鈥檚 Yuma Kagiyama 鈥� the 2022 Olympic silver medalist 鈥� was second (106.35) ahead of American Ilia Malinin (105.97).
鈥淚 could have performed a lot better, and a few minor things here and there I could have really done them a lot better,鈥� Malinin said. 鈥淏ut overall I鈥檓 just happy with my score.鈥�
Malinin, a bronze medallist at last year鈥檚 world championship, said the last few weeks have been a 鈥渞eally tough challenge鈥� because he hasn鈥檛 felt well. Asked if it was an injury or illness, he said 鈥渂oth,鈥� but wouldn鈥檛 specify further.
鈥淚 was even worried about if I wasn鈥檛 able to come to worlds,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was definitely really hard. Some days I鈥檇 have to miss practice. Last week we had a talk and I just decided I want to go, I鈥檓 going to try my best no matter how I feel.鈥�
Jason Brown, who won the bronze medal with the American team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, placed fourth (93.87). Camden Pulkinen of New York was 17th (78.85).
The free program is set for Saturday evening.
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