Deanna Stellato-Dudek injured pre-Olympics - news & updates

[zigzig]

I randomly just watched her documentary and am so happy they made it. I competed at the same Junior Olympics with her in 1997 (!!!) so the fact that Deanna's at the Olympics almost 30 (!!!) years later makes me thrilled beyond belief. I hope they have a great time and skate their hearts out. I need an uplifting Olympic story after that ice dance debacle.

 

[Judy]

Deanna and Max were interviewed by the press at the olympics and confirm it wasn’t a concussion but have removed the back flip … https://x.com/Devin_Heroux/status/2022292615522103384

 

[victorskid]

Deanna and Max were interviewed by the press at the olympics and confirm it wasn’t a concussion but have removed the back flip … https://x.com/Devin_Heroux/status/2022292615522103384

For those who don't want to go to X, Devin also posted on Bluesky -

Devin Heroux (@devinheroux.bsky.social)

DEANNA AND MAX ARE ON OLYMPIC PRACTICE ICE Delayed but they have made it. Canadian pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Max Deschamps are here for their first practice. They’ll compete in the short program on Sunday.

bsky.app

Devin Heroux (@devinheroux.bsky.social)

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Max Deschamps meet the press at the Olympics Deanna says the last week and a half has been a living nightmare. Won’t disclose injury but says it wasn’t a concussion They’ve removed the backflip from their program. Grateful to Canadians for all the support

bsky.app

Devin Heroux (@devinheroux.bsky.social)

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Max Deschamps so gracious here answering every question. Deanna said a number of times she was so grateful to Canadians and fans around the world who sent messages. She said she believes it helped her get to the Olympics.

bsky.app

 

[Baby Yoda On Skates]

I'm glad they removed the backflip. It always just seemed out of place and was a jarring moment in the program.

 

[Sylvia]

Golden Skate's compilation of Deanna/Max's quotes:

Golden Skate on Instagram: "Deanna Stellato-Dudek / Maxime Deschamps 🇨🇦 pre competition mixed zone: On returning to the Olympic ice after the past weeks: Deanna: “The last one and a half weeks were a living nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

449 likes, 5 comments - goldsk8 on February 13, 2026: "Deanna Stellato-Dudek / Maxime Deschamps 🇨🇦 pre competition mixed zone: On returning to the Olympic ice after the past weeks: Deanna: “The last one and a half weeks were a living nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My doctors told me...

www.instagram.com

Jackie Wong's practice notes - "Stellato/Deschamps: S solo 2A, D solo 3T, thr3Lo(hand), runthru (marked Tw, sbs3T, thr3Lo, 5RLi4), 3Tw4, sbs3S(S 1S)
Stellato/Deschamps' practice looked completely normal - you wouldn't have known anything had been wrong if you just watched that practice"

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Deanna and Max were interviewed by the press at the olympics and confirm it wasn’t a concussion but have removed the back flip … https://x.com/Devin_Heroux/status/2022292615522103384

It never made sense to me as it was not worth any points, and I’m not even sure was part of choreography really. I mean, at least they get to say they were the first pairs team to ever do a backflip, but it didn’t seem to make much sense.

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh, I'm glad it wasn't a concussion.

 

[fan]

Thank goodness that the injury wasn't as bad as some of us had imagined.

 

[fsfann]

It never made sense to me as it was not worth any points, and I’m not even sure was part of choreography really. I mean, at least they get to say they were the first pairs team to ever do a backflip, but it didn’t seem to make much sense.

One thing it did do, was it always got a lot of cheers from the people in the rink...so it did give them that extra 'energy boost'...

 

[Judy]

It never made sense to me as it was not worth any points, and I’m not even sure was part of choreography really. I mean, at least they get to say they were the first pairs team to ever do a backflip, but it didn’t seem to make much sense.

So it is now a Guinness World Record?

 

[shutterbug]

CBC article: Stellato-Dudek cautious in return from injury, but figure skater again prepared to challenge her fears

She would not get into the specifics of her accident, which caused the pair to miss the team event. “It has been less than 10 days. I, myself, have not processed what happened. Since the moment the accident occurred the only focus was tunnel vision: How can I get here?”

There are other mysteries. She claimed that she did not suffer a concussion. “That would have been difficult to recover from,” she said, and she talked about doing exercises, not normally part of post-concussion protocol.

 

[Rob]

I cannot find the link now but I read on a Reddit thread that all of her neck muscles seized and she couldn’t move her head. The poster sounded like they knew someone on her team, but for the life of me, I can’t pull it back up, maybe deleted?

 

[Allskate]

Deanna says that they were only off the ice for three days and that nearly everything she has heard or read is incorrect:

Jackie Wong on Instagram: "More from Deanna Stellato today on her accident. #MilanoCortina2026"

665 likes, 3 comments - rockerskating on February 13, 2026: "More from Deanna Stellato today on her accident. #MilanoCortina2026".

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Peacock is showing the Pairs practice in the main arena today (Feb. 14) - I rewound to Deanna/Max's FS partial run through: 3twist, she landed 3T+2A+2A at the beginning and a throw 3S with lovely flow out later! She and Max took a selfie at center ice before they left.

 

[fsfann]

Just curious. Does anyone have any theories on why they are being so hush hush about teh injury? I mean... what's the benefit to not just saying what happened? I know Deanna says it's no one's business, but the scrutiny seems to have intensified becasue of the lack of any official statement...other than "It wasn't a concussion".

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Just curious. Does anyone have any theories on why they are being so hush hush about teh injury? I mean... what's the benefit to not just saying what happened? I know Deanna says it's no one's business, but the scrutiny seems to have intensified becasue of the lack of any official statement...other than "It wasn't a concussion".

I find it Interesting as well, in football, in baseball in hockey you find out the players injuries.

 

[Kateri]

Just curious. Does anyone have any theories on why they are being so hush hush about teh injury? I mean... what's the benefit to not just saying what happened? I know Deanna says it's no one's business, but the scrutiny seems to have intensified becasue of the lack of any official statement...other than "It wasn't a concussion".

Possibility: if it was something involving a mistake by her partner, like a fall from a lift, maybe she's trying to protect Deschamps from being blamed in the media.

 

[Alilou]

Just curious. Does anyone have any theories on why they are being so hush hush about teh injury? I mean... what's the benefit to not just saying what happened? I know Deanna says it's no one's business, but the scrutiny seems to have intensified becasue of the lack of any official statement...other than "It wasn't a concussion".

Can't remember where, but I read that all her neck muscles seized and she couldn't move her head. They have also said that they will speak about it after the competition, and have asked for the media to give them space.

 

[withwings]

IMHO, the most probably it is because of a very simply reason- Deanna does not want to talk about it now, she wants to erase from her mind all what distracts and to experience Olympics! How we see/how it looks from the outside...maybe that it is not on her/they mind at all, and no time to dwell on it either. Apparently, when the time will be ripe in her/their opinion, then the truth of injury will come out. It is only my speculation of course.
Good it was not concussion of course.

Conti/ Macii also didn't reveal what kind of injury forced them to withdraw from European Championships, only after.

 

[marbri]

1. She said herself it only happened 10 days ago and she hasn't had time to process it yet so isn't ready to talk about it.
2. If she gave details then all anyone would be talking about are the details and considering she said she experienced fear the first time back having to do a jump it makes sense that you don't want to give details to distract you from the job ahead.
3. It's very common for skaters not to discuss injuries or to give details (when they can't hide an injury occurred)before a competition. If possible they all hide it because of the very nature of this being a judged sport. As a coach once said years ago you don't want to give them anything they can use as an excuse to mark you down.

 

[Desperado]

I find it Interesting as well, in football, in baseball in hockey you find out the players injuries.

In hockey they only talk about upper body or lower body injuries. Specific details may only come after the series.

 

[Plusdinfo]

Fingers crossed that both of them get through the competition healthy. It was quite concerning that she was hurt enough to not even depart Canada, and given her determination and pursuit of an Olympic dream, I think many others shared my fear that she might sweep aside a wise decision just to skate on Olympic ice. The reports of their practices seem promising, so I hope they have a healthy Olympics more than I even hope for a "successful result" Olympics.

 

[Private Citizen]

In addition to all the other reasons, there are "armchair doctors" who take strong stances on head and neck injuries -- many out of genuine though misguided concern.

Deanna has a medical team that has cleared her. She doesn't need or want to deal with armchair critics or self-appointed medical experts opining on her medical readiness to compete.

 

[Winnipeg]

I can see why she would not want to focus on anything but the competition at this point.

I remember Olys (in 1998??? ) where Stojko had an injury, did not talk about it, and we learned what it was at the end of his LP when he crunched over in agony due to a groin injury.

 

[clairecloutier]

A NYT profile of Deanna:

Olympic Figure Skating Is a Young Woman’s Sport. Deanna Stellato-Dudek Wants to Change That.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek, a Canadian pairs skater, is trying to make history at the Olympics — despite a training accident a week before the Games.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Excidra]

Peacock is showing the Pairs practice in the main arena today (Feb. 14) - I rewound to Deanna/Max's FS partial run through: 3twist, she landed 3T+2A+2A at the beginning and a throw 3S with lovely flow out later! She and Max took a selfie at center ice before they left.

Thank you for sharing. It looks like they are in good shape despite the injury. I hope they get their swan song moment at the Olympics. Love them.

 

[Carolla5501]

Just curious. Does anyone have any theories on why they are being so hush hush about teh injury? I mean... what's the benefit to not just saying what happened? I know Deanna says it's no one's business, but the scrutiny seems to have intensified becasue of the lack of any official statement...other than "It wasn't a concussion".

Because the truth is it none of our business.

And even if she produced her entire medical record, there would be experts on places like this who know her care has been totally mismanage because they stayed in the Holiday Inn express a few years ago

 

[Private Citizen]

A NYT profile of Deanna:

Olympic Figure Skating Is a Young Woman’s Sport. Deanna Stellato-Dudek Wants to Change That.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek, a Canadian pairs skater, is trying to make history at the Olympics — despite a training accident a week before the Games.

www.nytimes.com

I love how she's not ruling out 2030 even if Max and Josee Picard both retire . I wouldn't be surprised if she gets calls from pairs guys in need of a partner.

The level of personal and professional sacrifice makes me thankful she'll get to compete. She opens up slightly in this article, by saying she sacrificed a relationship, though no further detail. It's none of my business, but I had wondered where her (ex?) husband was in all of this. I assumed they were still together because of the continued use of Stellato-Dudek and wondered how they were making it work with moving to a new state and then a new country, becoming a citizen of that country (seemingly alone?), etc.

 

[marbri]

For Canadian Nationals the results show her using only the name Stellato. Because they use different formatting I checked to see if it was a character limitation but there are other names in different events that are longer with two last names. So my guess is her legal name is still Stellato-Dudek and that is why it's being used everywhere.

 

[Trillian]

So my guess is her legal name is still Stellato-Dudek and that is why it's being used everywhere.

I’ve seen speculation that she wouldn’t have been able to (or advised to?) legally change it while she was still pursuing Canadian citizenship, which seems logical to me. And if it ended up on her passport, I would guess whatever formal hoops are involved with changing that might not have been high priority in the relatively short turnaround time to the Olympics.

Deanna has always been fairly private about her personal life in general and injuries in particular. I’d even say that was true all the way back to her earlier career - I remember how surprised people were when she disappeared from the competitive scene in 2001, because I don’t think her injury issues were widely known at that time. I doubt she’ll ever share the details at any length, nor is there any reason she should if she doesn’t want to talk about it.

I’m just so glad she made it.