2022–23 Canadian Pairs: News and Updates

[Wyliefan]

Oh good.

 

[greenapple]

Now, this is a real opportunity for the brand new team of Pereira/Michaud...

The difference in quality between those two teams is like night and day. SD/D are far superior in all aspects. Fingers crossed for them to skate well and win.

 

[Habs]

A friend of mine (in her mid-40s) had RSV over the Christmas break. She said she's never been so sick in her life and also has many lingering effects.
Mini Habs had RSV in November and still has her cough. It's a really tough illness and I wish Deanna well in her recovery.

 

[victorskid]

Bev Smith has written about Deanna & Maxime's situation: https://bevsmithwrites.com/virus-hobbles-pair-team/

 

[Tesla]

I'm going to say it. They are being absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible. I sincerely hope neither one gets injured.

 

[LL22]

I'm going to say it. They are being absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible. I sincerely hope neither one gets injured.

Im sure if it was really bad that injury was a possibility they wouldn't be going. They are both adults and can make educated decisions based on their abilities and bodies without anyones opinions. Especially people who are reading articles and are not with them on a daily basis.

 

[angi]

I'm going to say it. They are being absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible. I sincerely hope neither one gets injured.

I have to agree, at GPF their FS was clearly a struggle and it sounds like they barely manage to do one run through a day. I don't get why even risk it, Canada has 3 spots in pairs for 4CC and Worlds and they are the highest ranked Canadian team, they will be on the team even if they won't participate at Nationals. The only thing I can think of is their desire to win the national title is clouding their judgment and they fear it won't be easy next season with other teams perhaps giving them a stronger fight, but that's not a good enough reason to risk injury (and potentially infecting others).

 

[Wyliefan]

She says she can barely breathe. It's just possible her desire for that title is running away with her judgment. It wouldn't be the first time that happened to a skater.

 

[Habs]

I have to agree, at GPF their FS was clearly a struggle and it sounds like they barely manage to do one run through a day. I don't get why even risk it, Canada has 3 spots in pairs for 4CC and Worlds and they are the highest ranked Canadian team, they will be on the team even if they won't participate at Nationals. The only thing I can think of is their desire to win the national title is clouding their judgment and they fear it won't be easy next season with other teams perhaps giving them a stronger fight, but that's not a good enough reason to risk injury (and potentially infecting others).

She got sick 8 weeks ago. There is very little chance she's contagious and could infect others.

I don't disagree about her risking injury, but I would have to hope she's working with coaches, trainers, and doctors to make the right decisions. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

 

[LL22]

I have to agree, at GPF their FS was clearly a struggle and it sounds like they barely manage to do one run through a day. I don't get why even risk it, Canada has 3 spots in pairs for 4CC and Worlds and they are the highest ranked Canadian team, they will be on the team even if they won't participate at Nationals. The only thing I can think of is their desire to win the national title is clouding their judgment and they fear it won't be easy next season with other teams perhaps giving them a stronger fight, but that's not a good enough reason to risk injury (and potentially infecting others).

Maybe if she provides a doctors note approving her to compete it would make all the haters happy, lol.

 

[Sylvia]

I haven't read any posts as being from "haters"?

Excerpt from Beverley Smith's article:

Deschamps said they have a plan in place to be most ready for next week and he trusts the process. “That’s the only thing we can work on, on a daily basis,” he said. “It’s the best we can do.”
Stellato-Dudek hopes that perhaps with another weekend of rest, she will feel better next week. They contest the pair short program at nationals on Friday, January 13, the long the following day. They make it a point to remember that they do not need to peak for nationals, because three more events in their longest season ever await them. The goal is to start building.
They hope the illness is over by the time of Four Continents Championships at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs – at high altitude. It runs Feb. 7 to 12.
“It’s a big learning for us,” Deschamps said. “We learn a lot from each other.”

ETA: The third event must be ISU World Team Trophy, April 13-16 in Tokyo.

 

[Karen-W]

Maybe if she provides a doctors note approving her to compete it would make all the haters happy, lol.

Oh, good Lord. None of us are "haters" - most of us have been pleasantly surprised at their early season success and the way they finally seem to have gelled as a pair, especially in competition.

I am concerned, based on how they looked in the FS at the GPF, and the fact that she hasn't been able to recover and train properly, that they are going to be in worse shape than they were at the GPF.

I get the desire to win a national title and compete, but at what cost?

 

[skategal]

Get well soon Deanna!!

I know I’m going to cry if they compete and win, compete and don’t win, or don’t compete.

Making a note to stock up on tissues.

 

[angi]

Maybe if she provides a doctors note approving her to compete it would make all the haters happy, lol.

It goes without saying that I'm not a hater, for me she and Max have been one of the highlights in pairs skating this season (and god knows there weren't many) and I'm very much rooting for them.

I don't disagree about her risking injury, but I would have to hope she's working with coaches, trainers, and doctors to make the right decisions. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

No one stopped Julianne Seguin from competing, not coaches, not trainers, not doctors. If she kept going to the point of truly risking her quality of life, I can definitely see no one stopping Deanna from competing even though it's a huge risk.
Skaters often get their judgment clouded, so many of them skate through injuries and cause themselves irreparable damage, I just worry it will somehow happen to them as well. And truly as a fan and observer, it won't be fun watching them skate while holding my breath and wishing it won't go wrong. Truly an unnecessary risk.

 

[Desperado]

I’ve become a devoted fan of Deanna and by extension, the Stellato-Deschamps pairing.

It takes immense focus, mental strength, and bare stubbornness to achieve what she has done in recent years, and very good health.

We’re learning more and more about post-viral illness, and how exercise (at any level) is known to be detrimental to recovery. Ask anyone diagnosed with ME/CFS or struggling for more than a year with long C. Let’s just says this hits close to home.

Sadly, you can barely find experts in the field in Toronto and Montréal, let alone an athlete’s entourage.

I worry that through stubbornness she will do permanent damage to her health, but that’s (sadly) what most athletes would choose, for a win.

I wholeheartedly wish her only good things.

 

[coppertop1]

There needs to be a serious shift in mentality. Coaches need to put the health and safety of the athlete above everything else. If they see their athlete risking their health and they allow it, they're part of the problem. It doesn't sound safe for Deanna and Max to compete.

 

[LL22]

There needs to be a serious shift in mentality. Coaches need to put the health and safety of the athlete above everything else. If they see their athlete risking their health and they allow it, they're part of the problem. It doesn't sound safe for Deanna and Max to compete.

Putting any blame on a coach, when students are 39 and 31 years old is not right IMO. At that point, the coach can only advise the skater, they cannot make decisions for them.

I guess we will see how they are doing very soon. Practices start Thursday i believe.

 

[manhn]

Eric just had YKW and then competed at Nationals poorly last year and then withdrew. They got a worlds spot after A TON OF BACKLASH from people. They have a chance at medaling at Worlds. I can understand their plight.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I think that James/Radford were in a different category of backlash than Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps, who are clearly the best of the Canadian Pairs contenders by far.

 

[carriecmu0503]

There needs to be a serious shift in mentality. Coaches need to put the health and safety of the athlete above everything else. If they see their athlete risking their health and they allow it, they're part of the problem. It doesn't sound safe for Deanna and Max to compete.

Exactly what do you think a coach can do to force a THIRTY-NINE-year-old woman to withdraw from competition? Once an athlete is an adult, it is solely their decision. They don't need their coach to "allow" them to compete at this point, and that has been the case for more than twenty years for this particular athlete.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm not sure any coach can force two grown adults, especially ones who are in their 30s, to do anything - but that doesn't mean the coach has to continue the professional relationship if he/she believes that the athletes are choosing to endanger themselves.

 

[greenapple]

Deanna and Maxime are not asking anyone what they should or should not do. They are determined to compete - that is obvious from what they said in that brief teleconference. If adult skaters decide to compete under extenuating circumstances, the coach has to go with that decision, whether they like it or not.

It is their life, their career - they have the right to decide what they want to do. No one else does.

 

[Sylvia]

From August 2022 in this thread:

Oh no doubt you're right. I just have a soft spot for Lubov from way back when she was skating with Maizuradze. And she's had so much bad luck. It looked like the partnership with Dylan would finally get her to the Olys and then of all the freakish accidents a huge glass door falls on Dylan and he can't recover from his injuries in time for them to have a good skat at nationals. Then it looks as if all the stars are aligning with Charlie and he dumps her without warning even after she'd moved to Montreal for the partnership, because he suddenly decided he didn't want to do it anymore.

Dylan finally has decided to share his late 2017 accident story in his own words today (warning: includes 5 bloody photos): https://www.instagram.com/p/CnPrxVjIqcM/

TW [Trigger Warning]
5 years ago, on December 19, 2017, my life changed when a 200lb mirrored door fell on my face as I was lying down in a Pilates studio. Between the weight of the door, the velocity with which it fell at, and the large shards of shattered glass, I was fortunate it didn’t maim or kill me.

With three weeks to go before the Canadian Championships, my first thoughts when I regained consciousness were of panic and fear surrounding the Olympics. As I vaguely remember it, I awoke to people lifting the door off of me, there was glass and blood everywhere and I completely lost it. I freaked out as I saw my bloody reflection through my blurred and partial vision.
Deep in my gut I knew what it likely meant.

As I reviewed these photos and felt the emotions of this day, what struck me aside from the insane symbolism of it all, were pictures of me putting on a smile. It provided me with another deep realization into how much I have suppressed myself in my life. I would stay strong and hold it together to the point that I wouldn’t let myself fully feel. I lived with a lot of positive toxicity, often bypassing my own feelings and truth to stay optimistic.

I rushed to get back on the ice in time to compete at nationals to try and make the Olympic team as @lubov_ilyushechkina and I had sacrificed so much for that goal but I was still dealing concussion symptoms and stitches in my hand. I rolled into nationals with 3 full days of training, trying to be strong.
As a team, we decided to keep it quiet as we didn’t want to add more pressure to the already difficult situation. We went out and tried our best but it wasn’t enough and we missed the Olympic team, coming 4th.

This was one of the most difficult experiences I’ve ever had and drastically changed the direction of my life.

With the Canadian Championships happening this week, I felt called to share a piece of my story and an event that, in many ways, kickstarted a long road of healing, both with my relationship to myself and my relationship with skating.

I am forever grateful for the love and support I received through this part of my journey and for the strength and perspective this challenge brought to my life.

Lubov Ilyushechkina recently shared 2 sets of photos from her latest professional contract - 2nd(?) year she's performed in the holiday ice show at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA in which Zachary Daleman was her partner: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnF5-AQuIZj/ & https://www.instagram.com/p/CnF8IiBOCUy/

 

[almiranara]

will Skate Canada split 4CC and Worlds assignments? especially the third spot. i know Laurin/Ethier doesn't have the SP tech mins for Worlds but i'm hoping they'd get sent to 4CC and Pereira/Micahud to Worlds

 

[Colonel Green]

will Skate Canada split 4CC and Worlds assignments? especially the third spot. i know Laurin/Ethier doesn't have the SP tech mins for Worlds but i'm hoping they'd get sent to 4CC and Pereira/Micahud to Worlds

They don't typically do that (it's really only Japan).

L/E's best chance of getting a 4CC assignment is probably if Deanna and Maxime decide not to go while she's still fighting the effects of the viral infection.

 

[coppertop1]

Hopefully, Deanna will take time to rest now before Worlds. National champion at making her first worlds at 39. Amazing!

 

[hoptoad]

Well, she did compete at Worlds for the US, and just missed qualifying for the long in a tough year.

 

[Panja]

I remember that Worlds. 28 pairs, Deanna and Nathan didn't skate so badly, but they were 17th - just above the cut.

 

[coppertop1]

Well, she did compete at Worlds for the US, and just missed qualifying for the long in a tough year.

That was in 2018, right? I forgot about that

 

[Colonel Green]

Interesting at M/M not going to 4CC, I wonder if there’s some behind the scenes reason for that. Because otherwise it’s quite anomalous not to send the silver medalists.