Deschamps suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. With respect to its impact on his competitive career, he has said "when I come into competitions, concentration is really easy for me. It's mostly at home where it's challenging on a daily basis."[1]
In 2016, Deschamps teamed up with Sydney Kolodziej from the United States. The pair finished 6th at the 2017 Canadian Championships, ranking 6th in the short program and 4th in the free skate.
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps began the 2022–23 season with a gold medal at the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.[9] The team was then invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Skate America, and won the silver medal, only 3.5 points behind gold medalists Knierim/Frazier. This was the first Grand Prix medal for both skaters.[10] They travelled to Angers for the 2022 Grand Prix de France, their second Grand Prix event, and won the gold medal. This was the first Grand Prix win for both skaters. Their results qualified them for the Grand Prix Final.[11] Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps entered the event considered likely bronze medalists and placed third in the short program, distantly behind top-ranked teams Knierim/Frazier and Japan's Miura/Kihara and 2.04 points of Italians Conti/Macii. Stellato-Dudek said she was pleased by the result, revealing that she had "got really ill" in recent weeks and "had to take time off the ice and off the training, and I lost weight, and I lost muscles, so we were training very hard to try and be ready for here."[12] However, the team struggled in the free skate, placing fifth in that segment and dropping behind the Italians for fourth overall.[13] She called this a disappointment but said it was understandable in light of their training difficulties.[14]
Stellato-Dudek continued to experience health difficulties in the aftermath of the Final, presumed to be a result of respiratory syncytial virus infection, which made her unable to breathe through her mouth. She had limited medical options for dealing with the virus given the need to remain compliant with WADA guidelines.[15] Despite these difficulties, the pair resolved to compete at the 2023 Canadian Championships, with Stellato-Dudek explaining that "I want it so badly because I want it for Max so much, because this is his tenth Canadian championship and last year I was so proud, I was the first partner you got a medal with in senior. So, to be the partner that brings him the gold would be really special to me."[16] They won the gold medal by a margin of 11.92 points over silver medallists McIntosh/Mimar.[17]
Following the national championships, Stellato-Dudek eventually recovered from the extended illness, and was assessed as being at "100% of her physical power" for a week in advance of the 2023 Four Continents Championships. They finished second in the short program despite her stepping out of their throw jump.[18][19] The free skate proved somewhat more difficult, with Deschamps falling on an attempt at the triple Salchow jump. They were third in that segment, albeit with a new personal best score, and won the bronze medal.[20] This was the first ISU championship medal of Deschamps' career.[21]
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps placed fourth in the short program at the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, only 0.43 points behind Conti/Macii in third.[22] Both erred on their triple Salchow attempt in the free skate, and they finished sixth in that segment, but remained in fourth overall.[23][24] Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps then joined Team Canada for the 2023 World Team Trophy, where they came third in the short program, narrowly beating Conti/Macii.[25] They were fourth in the free skate, while Team Canada finished sixth overall.[26]
Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps won gold. They set new personal bests in the free skate and total score, passing 200 points in the latter for the first time.[28] On the Grand Prix, they competed first at the 2023 Skate Canada International, placing first in both segments to win the gold medal. They broke the 140-point threshold in the free skate for the first time, and set a new personal best in total score as well. Stellato-Dudek commented afterward: "I am very happy, which is a rarity. We have been waiting for a performance like this for years!"[29] At the 2023 Cup of China, they won the segment and earned a 4.06-point lead over Italians Ghilardi/Ambrosini, despite Stellato-Dudek putting a hand down on their throw. They said the event was a test for them given the travel to China.[30] The free skate proved more difficult, including an aborted final lift, but they still won that segment as well and took another Grand Prix gold. She said afterward that they were "exhausted at the start of the program and it was fight from beginning to the end, but we are happy with the outcome."[31]
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps entered the 2023–24 Grand Prix Final as one of the perceived gold medal contenders. After minor mistakes on their jump and throw, they finished narrowly second in the short program, 1.34 points back of new German team Hase/Volodin and 0.92 ahead of Italians Conti/Macii in third. They had problems with both jumps and throws in the free skate as well, dropping to third place overall, albeit 2.13 points back of first. Both said that they had higher expectations, but Stellato-Dudek added that "we showed that even with big mistakes on the elements, we can score pretty high."[32]
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps performing a lift at the end of their free skate at the 2024 World Championships
At the 2024 Canadian Championships, the duo finished first in the short program, but only by 0.82 points over Pereira/Michaud after errors on both their throw and side-by-side jumps. Despite jump errors in the free skate Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps won that segment by a wide margin and took their second consecutive national title. They both said that they had done considerable work on throw improvements in the leadup.[33]
Returning to China for the third time that season for the 2024 Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, where Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps faced reigning Japanese world champions Miura/Kihara, who were returning to competition after an absence due to injury. The Canadians won the short program despite Deschamps falling on his triple toe loop attempt.[34] They won the free skate as well, despite Stellato-Dudek hurting her arm on the landing of their opening triple twist and a later jump error by Deschamps, and took their first Four Continents title. Saying they were very happy with the result, Stellato-Dudek added there was "definitely still a lot of growth in the performance, we know we can do a lot better than that, and we're looking forward to doing that at Worlds."[35]
At the World Championships, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps won the short program with a new personal best score of 77.48, an advantage of 3.95 points over Miura/Kihara in second place. In the free skate, Stellato-Dudek stepped out of the end of her jump combination attempt, but the program was otherwise clean. The team came second in that segment, 0.27 points behind Miura/Kihara, but remained in first place overall and took the gold medal.[36] This was the first World title for a Canadian pair since Duhamel/Radford in 2016, and the first for Canada in any discipline since Kaetlyn Osmond in 2018.[37] Deschamps said that he "felt nothing but pride" at their performance and the result,[36] which attracted significant media coverage for the team due to Stellato-Dudek's becoming the oldest-ever figure skating World champion in any discipline.[37][38]
2024–25 season
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps began the season by winning silver at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy behind Hase/Volodin.[39][40] Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series, the pair won the short program at 2024 Skate Canada International with an almost nine-point lead over the teams in second and third place. However, they would make several mistakes in the free skate, only placing second in that segment of the competition, although their lead after the short program was enough to hang onto first place. Following the event, Deschamps said, "That was certainly not easy tonight. It was going well at home, but it's gonna happen sometimes."[40][41] Three weeks later, the pair would deliver stronger performances at the 2024 Finlandia Trophy, where they won a second Grand Prix gold medal, thus qualifying for the 2024–25 Grand Prix Final.[40][42]
^Vanessa Grenier & Maxime Deschamps at Patinage Québec:
"2015–2016"(PDF). Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
"2014–2015"(PDF). Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
"2013–2014"(PDF). Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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