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Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud capped off a strong Olympic debut with an eighth-place finish in the individual pairs figure skating event at Milano-Cortina 2026 on Monday.
In the same event, 42-year-old Deanna Stellato-Dudek and partner Maxime Deschamps made a valiant comeback in the free program to finish 11th after a devastating fall in the short programs on Sunday.
“It’s just so special to, obviously, reach this goal and this margin, but to do it with Canada behind us, like we’ve had so much support,” Pereira told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux.
“We are very proud of a lot of the stuff we put out today. We’re always hungry and always want more, but it’s just been overwhelming, the amount of support we felt. So we’re very lucky for that.”
Winning the gold medal was Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, while Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava won silver, with Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin securing bronze.
The fight for the podium was a tight race as only five points separated second through ninth after the short programs.
Skating to the Gladiator soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, Pereira and Michaud scored 125.06 in the free program. Combined with their personal best performance in the short program Sunday, the pair also set a personal best overall of 199.66.
Pereira and Michaud also placed fifth with Canada in the team event where they set a personal best in the free program last week.
“Just coming into this event being so confident, coming in with the national championship title on our back, it’s just all of those little things, and all the work we put in [has] now been shown,” Pereira said.
“It’s just been a really, really amazing experience.”
Pereira and Michaud came into the Olympics as national champions, beating out Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, and were ranked No. 12 in the world according to the International Skating Union’s (ISU) world rankings for the 2025-26 season.
The pair have been skating together since 2022 and train between Brantford and Milton, Ont.
After landing in third place in the pairs short program, Canadian duo Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished in eighth place overall in the Olympic pairs competition at Milano Cortina 2026.
In what has been a tumultuous Olympics for the record-breaking figure skater Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, the duo finished their journey at Milano Cortina with a cleaner performance.
The pair, ranked No. 5 in the world, according to ISU world rankings and came into the Olympic Games as medal contenders, scored 126.57 in the free program and 192.61 overall – about 20 points lower than their season best.
Stellato-Dudek and Descamps made their Olympic debut in the individual pairs event on Sunday, after an untimely injury forced them to pull out of the team event days before the Winter Games – leaving their participation in Milano Cortina in doubt.
‘Come off the ice with dry butts’
Stellato-Dudek told Heroux her injury prevented her from training in the leadup to their participation in the Games, forcing the pair to make strategic changes to their program.
“That performance without training was pretty unbelievable. I’m super proud of Maxime, it’s really hard to train without your partner on the ice,” Stellato-Dudek said.
“I’m really proud of myself and proud of the team, including our coaches, because this was like a movie ending. I mean, just even being able to get out there and do what we did and come off the ice with dry butts is a huge win.”
It was a debut decades in the waiting, with Stellato-Dudek returning to skating in 2016 having retired 16 years previously after her successful career as a junior singles skater for the U.S. (as she was born in Chicago).
Stellato-Dudek, who is the oldest figure skater to compete at the Olympic Games in nearly a century, said her teenage self would be “totally shocked, but also really happy to know that she was able to finally fulfill her dream.”
“Ironically, back in Italy, because that was the Olympics I was going for originally in 2006, so it’s very ironic that it came full circle, and 20 years later I’m back, perhaps where I belonged.”
2024 world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps finished their Olympic career together with an 11th place finish in the pairs competition, at Milano Cortina 2026.
Podium 1sts for Japan and Georgia
Reigning world champions Miura and Kihara had to fight their way back to the podium, after a slip on a lift left them in fifth following the short programs.
The Japanese pair, who train in Oakville, Ont., also skated to the Gladiator soundtrack in their free program, scoring a world record of 158.13 points for an overall score of 231.24 – also a personal best.
This is the highest-ever pairs free skate score since the ISU changed scoring rules prior to the 2018-19 season.
Muira and Kihara came into Milano Cortina as gold-medal favourites. Despite the struggles in their short program that put their podium chances in jeopardy, the pair skated a flawless free program to become champions.
Along with the first gold medal for pairs skating for Japan, this is the second medal for the pair who also won silver in the team event last week.
Milano Cortina is Miura and Kihara’s second Olympics. The pair finished seventh at Beijing 2022.
After finishing in fifth place in the Olympic pairs short program, two-time world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won gold with the skate of the night at Milano Cortina 2026.
Metelkina and Berulava of Georgia, who previously competed for Russia, skated a free program to Le discours d’Arthur, Keeping Me Alive, scoring 146.29 and 221.75 overall to take the silver medal.
This is the second Olympic Games for Berulava, who teamed up with Metelkina in 2023, becoming the first Georgians to win the European figure skating title in 2026.
This is Georgia’s first-ever Olympic medal at a Winter Games.
Coming into the free programs in first place with a five-point lead after their short program performance, Germany’s Hase and Volodin took the bronze medal.
The pair struggled on their jumps and throws early on in their free program to Memoryhouse by Max Richter, scoring 139.08 and 219.09 overall.
This is the second Olympic games for Hase, who teamed up with Volodin in 2022.
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