Figure skating-Passion has no age limit - Stellato-Dudek making remarkable comeback at 40

Figure Skating - World Figure Skating Championships - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - March 23, 2023 Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps perform during the pairs free skating REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - When Deanna Stellato-Dudek retired from figure skating at age 17 with a world junior silver medal but a series of debilitating hip injuries, she never could have guessed the best was yet to come.

A chance exercise during a work retreat sparked a remarkable comeback 17 years later that has led the now 40-year-old Stellato-Dudek and Canadian pairs partner Maxime Deschamps to be top-ranked at this week's ISU Grand Prix Final in Beijing.