MONTREAL — Deanna Stellato-Dudek is one step closer to her Olympic dream.
The world champion figure skater gained Canadian citizenship Wednesday, making her eligible to represent Canada at the Olympic Games.
"So much stress lifted, so much hard work rewarded,” Stellato-Dudek said after taking the oath of citizenship in English and French at her lawyer’s office. “Now I feel like Max and I, we're free to realize our Olympic dream."
The 41-year-old pairs skater won gold with partner Maxime Deschamps at the world championships in March, becoming the oldest woman to win a world figure skating title.
Born and raised in the United States, Stellato-Dudek has lived in Canada and represented the country since teaming up in 2019 with Deschamps, a 32-year-old from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
Stellato-Dudek won world junior silver in 2000 but retired at 17 because of a hip injury. Sixteen years later, a work retreat sparked her return to skating.
During a team-building exercise for her job as an esthetician, Stellato-Dudek responded to the prompt “what’s something you'd do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” by saying she wanted to win an Olympic gold medal.
When she was younger, Stellato-Dudek dreamt of becoming an Olympic champion in 2006. Now she's defying her age and inching closer to that goal for the 2026 Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy.
"If I told my younger self I was going to have the opportunity to go to the 2026 Olympics, I would be extremely shocked and also perplexed as to why this is still going on all these years later,” she said. “It means so much. It's a dream that you have when you're a child and you work toward it.
“Right now it's like, I can see it.”
Stellato-Dudek’s mother, Ann Stellato, attended the ceremony and wiped tears of joy from her cheeks while her daughter took the oath.
“She’s worked so hard for this," Stellato said. “I know she’s my daughter, but it’s truly amazing. When she puts her mind to something, she gets it done.”
Stellato-Dudek, a Chicago native, initially skated with fellow American Nathan Bartholomay for three years before moving north to partner with Deschamps.
The pair chose to represent Canada over the U.S. because they trained outside Montreal in Sainte-Julie, Que., and their team was almost entirely from the province.
Stellato-Dudek has embraced speaking French, practising daily with a streak of nearly 2,000 days on the language application Duolingo.
“I try to speak whenever I can, but everyone always answers me in English, so I'm not fooling anybody,” she said. “I try nonetheless.”
In January 2021, Stellato-Dudek retained Montreal-based lawyer Patrice Brunet to initiate the exceptional immigration process. They filed the citizenship application in May 2023 under section 5(4) of the Citizenship Act, which states the minister may grant citizenship to “reward services of exceptional value to Canada.”
Brunet said there was a possibility it wouldn’t work out.
“She had to continuously perform and increase her chances,” he said. “We always had to show that she could be a podium potential for 2026.”
Stellato-Dudek said that pressure weighed heavily on her mind during competitions the last few years.
“More than I could explain,” she said. “There was always in the back of my mind doing things to try to pad my resume or my curriculum vitae to be as attractive as possible to the Government of Canada.”
Brunet believes last season's world championship gold on home soil pushed the application over the finish line.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, congratulating the pair.
“How much more can you have in terms of evidence of contributing to Canada when the Prime Minister recognizes it and congratulates you?” Brunet said. “If they had performed just average, it would have been challenging for her to get citizenship.”
An online petition to raise awareness for Stellato-Dudek's citizenship also garnered nearly 10,000 signatures.
"It's a big relief," Deschamps said. "It was a big hurdle on our way to the Olympics, and now that's just out of the way. We can really concentrate only on training, skating and competing."
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps are early podium contenders for 2026. They've followed up their world title with gold medals at Skate Canada International and the Finlandia Trophy this fall on the Grand Prix circuit, the top series in figure skating.
They withdrew from last weekend’s Grand Prix final because Deschamps was recovering from an illness.
Deschamps said he’s almost back to training in full capacity and has no doubts he'll be ready for the Canadian championship Jan. 14-19 in Laval, Que. — where Stellato-Dudek will compete for the first time as a Canadian citizen.
"I really feel like a Canadian," she said. "With my efforts to try to learn French and to really be a Quebecer, too. I feel like it does mean more than just for skating.
"I've felt Canadian for a while, now this just solidifies it."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
