Reigning world champion pairs team Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps withdraw from Grand Prix Final
Maxime Deschamps is "recovering from an illness," Skate Canada said in a social media post. The Canadian duo had won both of its Grand Prix assignments this season.
Figure Skating
Reigning world figure skating pair champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps are out of this weekend's (5-7 December) Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France.
Skate Canada announced the withdrawal on Monday (2 December), saying in a social media post that Deschamps is still "recovering from an illness."
They provided no further information.
The Final features the top six skaters or teams from each of figure skating's four disciplines, based on their respectively performances during the six-stop Grand Prix Series in October and November.
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy have been called up to replace the Canadians.
2023 world champions Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi will now lead the pairs field, which also features Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps won gold at both Skate Canada International and Cup of China, but were still settling into their best skating of the season after placing second at Nebelhorn Trophy in September.
Their next anticipated event will be the Canadian Championships, set for 14-19 January in Laval, Quebec, just outside of Montreal.
You can see a full list of Grand Prix Final entrants here. We'll have full coverage of the event this weekend on Olympics.com.