They had secured silver at the Skate America Grand Prix a few weeks ago and this time they scored their first Grand Prix victory. On Saturday, Maxime Deschamps and Deanna Stellato-Dudek flew over the pair competition of the French Open in figure skating with 185.84 points to finish far ahead of the French Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev (179.85).
Posted at 5:59 p.m.
This victory already guarantees them a place in the final of the Grands Prix which will be contested from December 8, in Turin, Italy.
In ice dancing, Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sörensen also stepped on the podium, finishing second.
PHOTO JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen
The superb season therefore continues for Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps who continue to turn heads. The duo finished fourth at the Four Continents Cup last season, but it was this year that they really burst onto the international scene.
We are happy with the end result. It hasn’t been the easiest week for us. We were back from Skate America where it was really good, but it was a bit more challenging this week, but we managed to come back together and fight in the long (program). We are very happy about that and we would like to thank our coaches, including Josée (Picard), who helped us get back on track.
Maxime Deschamps
These performances are all the more remarkable as Stellato-Dudek retired from competition in 2000 following an injury. 16 years later, she put on her skates under the American colors. She then obtained her Canadian citizenship and has teamed up with Deschamps since 2019.
Earlier in the day, in ice dancing, Fournier-Beaudry and Sörensen (201.93) held on to second place after the free program. The Quebec pair already had 82.38 points obtained in rhythmic dancing the day before. Trailing Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri by 1.14 points, the Quebecers concluded the competition with a final score of 201.93. Guignard and Fabbri (207.95) were the gold medalists and Frenchmen Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (187.15) completed the podium.
The other Canadian duo, formed by Molly Lanaghan and Dmitre Razgulajevs (153.72) closed the march in tenth and last place.
“We’re really happy with the way we skated this weekend. This silver medal is like the creaming on the cake because we were there to create a moment for ourselves and have fun. To be awarded a silver medal is crazy! admitted Sörensen with a smile in his voice.
This is the best result in Grand Prix for the skaters, who have already accumulated four bronze medals in competitions on this circuit since the start of their career.
Alicia Fabbri/Paul Ayer (dance), Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha (dance) and Lori-Ann Matte/Thierry Ferland (couple) will be the Quebec skaters registered for the Grand Prix in Sheffield, Great Britain, next week.