MILAN — Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud won’t leave Italy with a medal, but a standout showing at their first Olympics has them excited — and hungry — for what’s ahead. The rising Canadian pair finished eighth at the Milan Cortina Games on Monday, falling from third after a disappointing free program. The performance still capped an encouraging Olympic debut in both the team and individual events for a duo expected to continue into the next quadrennial. “We’ve had four very good performances and lots to take out of them, and we’re super proud of both of us,” Michaud said. “Looking forward to worlds to put ourselves back into that conversation with that last group. “This feels right, and I’m just excited to see where this can go.” Pereira, a 21-year-old from Milton, Ont., and Michaud, 29, of Trenton, Ont., entered the night in podium position after a stellar, personal-best skate in Sunday’s short program at Milano Ice Skating Arena. But they scored only 125.06 points in their free program to music from the film “Gladiator,” finishing with 199.66 overall following mistakes on their throw triple loop, side-by-side triple salchow and death spiral — as Pereira struggled with an unreliable edge. “I noticed in the warm-up that my one edge felt a little bit funky, but you’re in performance space, the adrenaline’s going, you try not to over-analyze it too much,” she said. “Maybe in practice or just behind the scenes my outside edge got a little bit nicked or rubbed off or something. “So I felt like we really fought through the whole program.” Pereira and Michaud have come a long way since first meeting for a cup of coffee at a Starbucks in August 2022. Pereira was then a singles skater with limited pairs experience. Michaud was searching for a new teammate to help achieve his Olympic dream after longtime partner Evelyn Walsh retired. Once they decided to pair up, Michaud said the partnership instantly clicked, comparing their natural chemistry to Canadian greats Jamie Salé and David Pelletier. “You watch Jamie and David, and they kind of had that magic. One of them would put their hands out, and the other hand would be there,” Michaud said. “And I still have that feeling every day, don’t have to think about it, and our hands are kind of there when we need them to be.” Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara captured gold, bouncing back from a shaky short program to post a personal-best 231.24 with a clean, mesmerizing free skate (158.13). The two-time world champions train out of Oakville, Ont., with Canadian coaches Meagan Duhamel and Bruno Marcotte, who was jumping next to the rink in joy as the crowd rose for a standing ovation. Georgia’s Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava won silver with 221.75, while Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin took bronze (219.09) after winning the short program. Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps had two trying outings at the Games, under difficult circumstances. The 2024 world champions finished 11th after Stellato-Dudek’s fluke fall during the short program dashed their hopes of contending for a medal. The 42-year-old Stellato-Dudek is a remarkable story. She became the oldest female figure skater since the 1928 Winter Games to compete at the Olympics, fulfilling a lifelong dream that almost ended when she hit her head on the ice during a training session in Quebec on Jan. 30. She and Deschamps only arrived in Milan on Thursday, a few days after Stellato-Dudek — who hasn’t disclosed the nature of her injury — received medical clearance, limiting their training. “The potential was still there, but there was nothing I could do. It was an accident,” she said. “You have to just go with it and make the best of it, and that’s what we’ve done.” They plan to compete at the world championships in Prague in March, if Stellato-Dudek is healthy enough. She explained doctors gave the Olympic go-ahead under a “special circumstance.” “The Olympics are once every four years,” she said. “Everyone kind of read my story and was like, ‘Oh goodness, we really want to be able to send her off.’” Once a rising U.S. singles star forced to retire at 17 after a hip injury, Stellato-Dudek imagined an Olympic debut in 2006, not 2026. She spent 16 years off the ice before resuming her Olympic quest again in 2016. And despite her age, she’s not ready to rule out another run. “The only limits you have are the ones that you set on yourself, even though everybody loves to try to put limits on me because I’m 42,” she said. “I don’t believe in any of those, only I can put limits of myself. “I might see you again in four years.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026. Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
