Deanna Stellato-Dudek: “What drives me? I don’t want to sit down one day with a glass of wine at 80 years old and realize that I regret something.”
Translation of Deanna Stellato-Dudek’s and Maxime Deschamps’ comments about their performance and leading after the short program at the 2024 World Championships.
original source: sports.ru by Maya Bagriantseva
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps lead after the short program with a result of 77.48 points.
“Deanna Stellato-Dudek: God, I was so nervous today. Performing in front of a home crowd is a huge responsibility. My partner is originally from Quebec, today our relatives, loved ones, friends are here. Even the girls who pick up toys on the ice are from our rink. Many of my friends don’t watch figure skating at all — they only tune in for my skates. If I didn’t perform well today, they would’ve understood that I’m not as cool as they might think, haha. I couldn’t let them down.
Before tomorrow, I need to calm down and leave all the emotions of today.
What drives me? I don’t want to sit down one day with a glass of wine at 80 years old and realize that I regret something. So you can’t back down and you can’t be afraid either. I can’t control everything in the world, but I do have to do everything that depends on me — everything that’s in my power now and today. It’s important to me that when people look at me, they understand: everything is possible. What’s crucial is to have a passion for what you do.
I don’t have a Canadian passport yet (Deanna was born in the United States—ed.), but I don’t have to wait long. I will have to take the citizenship test and I seem to be able to do it before the Olympics in Milan. I need to perform well here so that Canada has no doubt that it needs me.
I don’t think about age. Yes, I probably have to work a little harder than younger figure skaters. But what’s the point in worrying about it? If I need to, I will do it. If I need to spend more time on recovery and stretching I will do it, if I need to spend an extra hour on jumps — so be it.
Maxime Deschamps: Incredible feeling, there are no words to describe it. We didn’t expect such a reaction from the audience, at some point we just went deaf. Honestly, it’s not easy to skate under such conditions. I kept telling myself throughout the whole program: “Don’t rush, calm down” and it seems like I succeeded.”
Related topics: Deanna Stellato-Dudek Maxime Deschamps, world championship
Their skate was amazing and her intensity and drive is so admirable. So proud of Max who battles anxiety for remaining calm and performing so well in front of the exuberant crowd!