Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps just never stop to surprise. After staging an unique comeback after 16 years off the ice to become an ISU World Pairs Champion in 2024 with Deschamps, Stellato-Dudek is doing something extraordinary again: She backflips from her partner’s chest. No pairs team has done that kind of assisted backflip before in international competition. Backflips became legal in ISU events in the 2024/25 season again following a rule change after being banned for decades. 

 “I've had that idea for a long time,” Stellato-Dudek shared. “Last year the ISU just allowed backflips and Adam Siao Him Fa has done it and Ilia Malinin is on it but none of the women have done it. I wanted to show that the girls play the backflip game just as good as the boys. It is important to me.” 

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) include the backflip in their Short Program © ISU

The 2024 ISU Four Continents Champion pointed out that she has not seen a woman doing a backflip since Surya Bonaly (FRA) performed it in the 1990s. “For the next generation coming up it's important that they see a female can backflip also,” Stellato-Dudek pointed out. 

Actually, the 42-year-old pair skater had planned something even crazier. “Well, my idea was to backflip off Maxime’s shoulders, and he said no. He thought it was too dangerous,” she explained. “Then I thought maybe I could jump off his back, and he said, ‘but your blades are going to cut my back’, and I was like, ‘well, stick pads in the costume, you'll be fine. You can make this work.’ 

 However, this was not an option for Deschamps either. Nevertheless, his partner did not give up yet. 

"I have to figure out a way to make this work"

“I thought I have to figure out a way to make this work,” she said. And of course she did. Stellato-Dudek found a video on YouTube where a boy performed the backflip off his father’s chest and was far away enough so he would not hit him. Stellato-Dudek showed the video to Deschamps. He was not convinced. Yet. 

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) are the first to show a backflip in Pair Skating in international competition © ISU

During the off- season in spring, Stellato-Dudek tried again. She suggested to go to a gymnastics coach and try the backflip on the floor. “I said, just give me one day.  If I can't do it on the first day, I'll let it go.’ So he said, ‘okay’, and I was of course able to do it on the first day.” 

Knowing Stellato-Dudek it was not a surprise that she did it on the first day. “I did gymnastics for over a decade, I did skating and gymnastics, so backflipping was not foreign to me,” she revealed.

From now on, Deschamps was on board. “It's so cool,” he said.

The crowd at the ISU Grand Prix de France in Angers loved the acrobatic move. It goes well with the dramatic “Carmina Burana” Short Program. 

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) perform their Flamenco Free Skating at the ISU Grand Prix de France © ISU

For the Free Skating, the 2024 ISU World Champions went with the Flamenco piece “Poeta” by Vicente Amigo. 

"The Olympic season is finally here"

Armed with two great programs and the backflip, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps were ready to start the Olympic season and got silver at the Grand Prix de France in Angers, their first ISU Grand Prix event, and a first big step on the road to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) pose with their silver medals at the ISU Grand Prix de France © ISU

“I'm so excited (about the Olympic Games) but also it's far away. We still have a lot of events before, so we have to go one step at a time and not look too far ahead because otherwise we might trip on the way,” Deschamps noted. 

“I'm very happy, the Olympic season is finally here,” American-born Stellato-Dudek said. “When we partnered in 2019 we knew 2022 was out of the question. So it's always been 2026. It is this thing I've been dreaming of since I was a kid and then since I restarted. It's finally here and we have to make sure we enjoy it.”

Fun facts: 

• Deanna Stellato-Dudek became the oldest woman to win a World title in Figure Skating at age 40 in 2024.
• Maxime Deschamps had skated with eight different partners before finding his lucky number nine in Deanna Stellato-Dudek

Watch Deanna and Maxime backflipping again at their second ISU Grand Prix event Skate Canada International in Saskatoon (CAN) October 31 to November 2.

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