Deanna Stellato-Dudek[1][2] (born June 22, 1983) is an American-Canadian[3] pair skater who currently competes with Maxime Deschamps for Canada.

She won one senior international medal, a silver at the 2000 Karl Schäfer Memorial, prior to her initial retirement from competitive skating in 2001.

A member of Wagon Wheel FSC, she was coached by Cindy Watson-Caprel and Philip Mills in Northbrook and Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

[9][4] Stellato-Dudek began the following season at a U.S.-only team event, the 2000 Keri Lotion Classic, where she was partnered with Michael Weiss.

[13] She resumed skating in March 2016, in the Chicago area, before visiting her former coach, Cindy Watson-Caprel, who had moved to a rink in Ellenton, Florida.

Figure Skating's high-performance director, Mitch Moyer, suggested a tryout with Nathan Bartholomay, a pair skater who was working at the same rink.

[14][15] In July 2016, Stellato-Dudek and Bartholomay announced that they had formed a partnership and were based at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex.

However, due to perceived inconsistent results earlier in the season, they were not assigned to the third American berth at the 2019 Four Continents Championships, that going instead to pewter medalists Kayne/O'Shea.

"[23] The national championships would be the team's final competition, as they announced in April 2019 that injuries to Bartholomay precluded them from continuing together.

[24] Following the end of her partnership with Bartholomay, Stellato-Dudek returned to Chicago and continued training by herself while seeking a new partner, later saying, "I called every single coach I’d ever met in my entire life to see if they had anyone available."

Upon learning of Canadian pair skater Maxime Deschamps, she arranged a tryout in Montreal overseen by coach Bruno Marcotte, and they shortly after formed a new partnership.

[25] Given the difficulty of obtaining Canadian citizenship before 2022, Stellato-Dudek said that her goal was to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics, joking, "I'm already too old to be doing this, so I can be too old in six years, too.

[24] Stellato-Dudek was not initially released to compete internationally by the American federation, so the team appeared only domestically in the 2019–20 season.

[32] The beginning of the new Olympic cycle saw a significant shift in the international pairs scene as a result of retirements and the banning of all Russian competitors due to the Russo-Ukrainian War.

They also shared with the rest of the Canadian delegation the Fritz Geiger Memorial Trophy for the highest-ranked country at the event.

[34] The team was then invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Skate America and won the silver medal, only 3.5 points behind gold medalists Knierim/Frazier.

[33] Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps entered the event considered likely bronze medalists and placed third in the short program, distantly behind top-ranked teams Knierim/Frazier and Japan's Miura/Kihara and 2.04 points of Italians Conti/Macii.

[39] Stellato-Dudek continued to experience health difficulties in the aftermath of the Final, presumed to be a result of respiratory syncytial virus infection, which made her unable to breathe through her mouth.

[45] This was Stellato-Dudek's first ISU championship medal in 23 years, to which she said "it means a lot to me to bring home hardware and I have all intention to continue until 2026.

[51] In anticipation of Deschamps' home province hosting the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, the duo selected Cirque du Soleil's "Oxygène" as a homage to French Canadian culture.

"[54] At the 2023 Cup of China, they won the segment and earned a 4.06-point lead over Italians Ghilardi/Ambrosini, despite Stellato-Dudek putting a hand down on their throw.

[55] The free skate proved more difficult, including an aborted final lift, but they still won that segment as well and took another Grand Prix gold.

After minor mistakes on their jumps and throw, they finished narrowly second in the short program, 1.34 points back of new German team Hase/Volodin and 0.92 ahead of Italians Conti/Macii in third.

Both said that they had higher expectations, but Stellato-Dudek added that "we showed that even with big mistakes on the elements, we can score pretty high.

[59] They won the free skate as well, despite Stellato-Dudek hurting her arm on the landing of their opening triple twist and a later jump error by Deschamps, and took their first Four Continents title.

[63] Stellato-Dudek, at 40, became the oldest woman to win a figure skating World title in any discipline, breaking a record set by 38-year-old German-Finnish pair skater Ludowika Jakobsson 101 years prior.

[64] Her feat attracted notable media coverage, and praise from competitors, with bronze medalist Hase remarking "it's amazing.

"[63] Stellato-Dudek said the gold medal was "a dream come true," adding that she hoped it would encourage athletes to stay in the sport longer.

[65][66] Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series, the pair won the short program at 2024 Skate Canada International with an almost nine-point lead over the teams in second and third place.

[68] On December 11, less than a week after their withdrawal from the Grand Prix Final, Stellato-Dudek took the Canadian oath of citizenship, resolving the team's longstanding questions around eligibility to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.