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

MANCHESTER, England : 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.

"Passion," as she likes to say, "has no age limit."

"I have such a passion for it," Stellato-Dudek told Reuters. "I look forward to going in the rink every day. I look forward to my recovery that I do at night. My favourite part is the day-to-day grind, improving and getting better and challenging yourself.

"When you're younger, it's just kind of what your parents drove you to, the activity that you did. If it was taken away from you, maybe then you would realise how much you loved it," she added.

"But as an adult, you're doing this because you love it, otherwise you just flat out wouldn't do it."

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps are undefeated this season, winning their two Grand Prix assignments and defeating reigning world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara at the season-opening Autumn Classic.

Stellato-Dudek, a former singles skater for the United States, was working as a medical aesthetician when, during a work retreat exercise in 2016, was asked to answer: "What would you do if you knew you wouldn't fail?"

Without hesitation she said: "Win an Olympic gold medal."

Stellato-Dudek returned home to Chicago, retrieved her old skates from her mother's basement, and embarked on "Career 2.0," combining 4:30 a.m. skating sessions with her 12-hour work days for the first few