Deanna Stellato-Dudek becomes oldest female figure skating champion at 40

Deanna Stellato-Dudek, has done the extraordinary, shattered the glass ceiling by becoming the oldest woman to win a figure skating championship at the age of 40, CNN reported.

She along with her partner, Maxime Deschamps, 32, defeated, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan to win the figure skating championship in the pair category.

The pair event is thought to be the most difficult as the women are thrown in the air, approximately 10 feet up by their partners.

Stellato-Dudek, after suffering a series of injuries, including, a broken ankle, torn ligament in right ankle and significant hip injury, retired merely at the age of 17 in 2001.

Before retiring, she had an impressive junior career as a singles taker, she won the 1999-2000 international Junior Grand Prix Final and a silver medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships.

Stellato-Dudek, after retirement, worked as an aesthetician for 16 years.

In 2016 she decided to return to the ice again, however finding a partner was difficult.

In an interview, she said, "I called every single coach I’d ever met in my entire life to see if they had anyone available."

Soon she got connected with Deschamps, and the rest is history.

Now the pair aim to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics.