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World figure skating champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada will not compete in the Olympic team event in Italy later this month due to a training injury in Quebec sustained by Stellato-Dudek, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Monday.
Stellato-Dudek’s condition and readiness for the individual pairs event is being assessed daily.
“Athlete health and safety is our No. 1 priority. We will share more information as it becomes available,” the COC said in a statement.
Another Canadian Olympian, snowboard Cross athlete Tess Critchlow, has withdrawn from competition due to injury.
At 42, Stellato-Dudek would become the oldest woman to compete in an Olympic figure skating event since British athlete Ethel Muckelt in 1928.
Last month, she and Deschamps captured a pairs silver medal at the Canadian figure skating championships in Gatineau, Que.
In early December, the 2024 world champions were sixth in pairs at the Grand Prix Final after a shaky free skate in Nagoya, Japan.
The two-time Grand Prix medallists, who won bronze at the 2023 Final, posted 194.36 points after a fall in their free program.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps won their third consecutive Skate Canada International title in Saskatoon on Nov. 1.
The duo had the home nation roaring at SaskTel Centre when they came from behind to take the gold medal ahead of German rivals Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin.
