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Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud skated circles around an empty sheet of ice as “Carmina Burana” boomed from the arena’s loudspeakers during a practice session Wednesday.
The short-program music belonged to Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, but the former world champions were nowhere to be seen.
“Our heart goes out to them,” Pereira said. “No athlete ever wishes to have that happen, and especially so close to the Games. We’ve known Deanna and Max for the last couple of years; they’re competitors, but they’re also friends and teammates.
“It was really weird arriving here and them not being here.”
At 42, Stellato-Dudek was set to become the oldest female figure skater in nearly a century to compete at the Olympics, until a training accident in Quebec put her chances of skating at the Milan Cortina Games in jeopardy.
She and Deschamps have withdrawn from the team event, which begins Friday with the rhythm dance, but Stellato-Dudek has not yet been ruled out of the individual pairs event on Feb. 15-16, with her condition being evaluated daily.
Skate Canada high-performance director Mike Slipchuk said “in a perfect world” a final decision from the medical staff would come by Feb. 10. That would give Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps enough time to travel and acclimate — or allow alternates Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier to step in as replacements.
“It’s kind of two phases,” Slipchuk said of Stellato-Dudek, who had not yet returned to on-ice training. “You’ve got to be medically healthy, and then once that it’s getting back on the ice, but I think if you get to the ice part, you’re definitely much closer.”
WATCH | Skaters await doctor’s decision:
Deanna Stellato-Dudek awaits doctor decision on if she can compete at Milano Cortina 2026
Devin Heroux is on the ground at Milano Cortina 2026 from the figure skating venue and provides an update on Deanna Stellato-Dudek, who will not be competing in the team event at the Games. She awaits a doctor decision on if she can compete in the pairs event with partner Maxime Deschamps.
“This is the spot Deanna and Max have earned,” he added. “We want to give them every opportunity to have their chance to be here.”
In the meantime, Pereira and Michaud — who upset Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps to win their first national title last month in Gatineau, Que. — will carry Canada’s hopes in the pairs portion of the team event as the country moves forward without two of its strongest skaters.
“It’s exciting — we’re not just skating for ourselves, we’re skating for our friends too,” said Michaud, a 29-year-old from Trenton, Ont. “We’re really excited to have that aspect to it, and we’re going to skate a little bit more even for Deanna and Max as well.
“We just wish them the speediest recovery.”
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont. — Canada’s lone entry in women’s singles — called Stellato-Dudek’s situation “every athlete’s worst nightmare.”
“She’s worked so hard and so long for this dream,” Schizas said. “I cannot imagine what she’s going through right now.”
Schizas also expressed confidence in Pereira and Michaud, having watched them up close for years as training partners at Milton Skating Club.
“I know they’re ready for this experience,” she said. “As the second entry, you always know that there’s a chance that you’ll be called up to skate the team event, and that it’s your responsibility to be ready for that. I know that they are.”
Slipchuk said the plan before Stellato-Dudek’s injury was for Pereira and Michaud to skate the team event long program.
Pereira, a 21-year-old from Milton, Ont., and Michaud are making their Olympic debut. They finished sixth at the 2023 world championships, followed by eighth in 2024 and 11th in 2025.
Five of 10 countries will advance after the short programs to the team event final, which wraps up Sunday. The United States and Japan are favoured to take gold and silver, while Canada could challenge host Italy and Georgia for bronze.
“There are so many countries going for that bronze spot,” said Piper Gilles, who forms Canada’s top ice dance duo with Paul Poirier. “Everybody’s pushing for it.
“It’d be really exciting to see everybody skate their best and see what happens.”
Gilles added that she was “gutted” for Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps.
“No one wants to go into the Olympic Games being injured. We’re rooting for them,” she said. “What’s most important is your health. We know that first and foremost. If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything. Health is first, competing second.”
Canada faced a similar blow at the 2022 Olympics, when Keegan Messing missed the team event due to a positive COVID-19 test that delayed his Beijing arrival.
With Roman Sadovsky skating the men’s singles section, Canada finished fourth behind the United States, Japan and Russia, which fell from first to third after teenage skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance.
