Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps are back-to-back champions at Skate Canada International, but they’re not laughing about it.

Not after the many mistakes they made in the free skate on Saturday.

“That certainly wasn’t easy tonight,” Deschamps said. “Things went well at home, but it will happen sometimes.”

It started when Deschamps fell on a triple toe loop to start a sequence early in the free skate, only for Stellato-Dudek to step out later in the program with a throw that earned the second-best score of the day (124.10).

The Canadian duo finished with a total points of 197.33 at Scotiabank Centre, well below the 221.56 they set to win gold at the world championships last March in Montreal.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” Stellato-Dudek said. “I’ve done so many clean runs of this program at home, so I really have no idea why that happened tonight.

“We came here prepared. The performance was not an indication of how our training went. We need to find out right now why it happened.”

LOOK | Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps repeat on Skate Canada:

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps capture their second consecutive pairs title at Skate Canada International

World champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps from Canada win the pairs competition at Skate Canada International for the second year in a row.

Looking for reasons for the imperfections, Stellato-Dudek wondered whether Deschamps’ fall had thrown them away.

“I almost said something after he fell because I was like, what? What was that?” said Stellato-Dudek. “His fall shocked me a little bit because it’s not normal.”

Ekaterina Geynish and Dmitrii Chigirev of Uzbekistan finished second (189.65) and Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia were third (186.14).

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps were an unlikely match when they worked together in 2019.

Stellato-Dudek, 41, a native of Chicago who was in the process of acquiring Canadian citizenship, retired at age 17 but returned to the sport as a pairs skater 16 years later. Deschamps, a 32-year-old from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., cycled through eight partners with limited success before finding Stellato-Dudek.

Now they are world champions and have their sights set on gold at the 2026 Olympic Games.

This year they are not only fighting the competition, but also the pressure that comes with it.

The ageless skaters talk to sports psychologists and receive tips from people who have been in their shoes before. This includes Eric Radford, two-time world champion in pairs with partner Meagan Duhamel.

“Eric said during the summer: this world championship is ours forever,” Deschamps said. “New season, and let’s attack. Don’t defend anything, just attack.”

So how will they regroup after a difficult night?

“You just have to forget about it, move forward, but learn from it,” Deschamps said.

“For me, the first reaction is just extreme disappointment and sadness,” Stellato-Dudek added. “Then I get very angry and I will do things until I never miss them again.”

Sakamoto wins the women’s event

Meanwhile, Canadian Madeline Schizas beamed after finishing fifth in the women’s competition.

The 21-year-old from Oakville, Ontario, scored 190.04 points – her highest international score in more than two years – and cried tears of joy at center ice after putting together back-to-back strong performances.

“I didn’t really cry. I’m not really a crier,” Schizas said. “I was just happy. I put out some good skates in training, but I had such a hard time translating it to competition.”

It was almost enough to win a medal. Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto won gold with 201.21, ahead of Rino Matsuike (192.16) and Hana Yoshida (191.37) as Japan took the podium.

Schizas had a disappointing end to last season with an 18th place at the world championships. This weekend she released an upbeat, almost flawless short program for “The Lion King.”

The two-time national champion followed up Camille Saint-Saens’ intense “Danse Macabre” with a solid free skate.

“I came into this weekend with a fiery attitude and it really helped me do my best,” she said. “That would have put me in the top ten in the world and then some.

“It also gives me a good feeling to go to the Canadians, and to go into the selection for the second half of the season, knowing that I now have a score that puts me in the top ten in the world.”

LOOK | Sakamoto claims gold in women’s event:

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto claims the women’s title at Skate Canada International

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan wins the women’s competition at Skate Canada International with a total score of 201.21.

Earlier Saturday, Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took the lead after the rhythm dance.

Gilles, from Toronto, and Poirier, from Unionville, Ont., scored 86.44 points for their Beach Boys-themed routine with Barbie and Ken costumes.

Fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of St-Hubert, Que., finished second with 77.34 points, followed by Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France with 76.76. Alicia Fabbri of Laval, Que., and Paul Ayer of Calgary are ninth with 70.10 points.

LOOK | Gilles and Poirier are in the top stop after rhythm dance at Skate Canada:

Gilles and Poirier are in the top stop after rhythm dance at Skate Canada

Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier scored 86.44 in the rhythm dance competition and are in first place at Skate Canada on Saturday.

Reigning world champion Ilia Malinin of the United States leads the men’s short program with 106.22, well ahead of Japanese skaters Shun Sato (96.52) and Sota Yamamoto (92.16).

Toronto’s Stephen Gogolev finished fifth with 82.70 after a solid skate. Aleksa Rakic, from Burnaby, BC, placed ninth and Roman Sadovsky, from Vaughan, Ontario, came last in the field of 12 skaters.

WATCH: Malinin sets the pace in the men’s event:

American Ilia Malinin leads after the men’s short program at Skate Canada

Ilia Malinin from the United States is in first place after the men’s short program of Skate Canada International with a score of 106.22.

The free dance and men’s long program are on the program on Sunday.

The Grand Prix, the top series in figure skating, consists of six events and a final. Skate Canada is the second event this year after the circuit kicked off last week at Skate America.

Alicia Fabbri of Laval, Que., and Paul Ayer of Calgary are ninth with 70.10 points.

Live streaming of the event continues Sunday at 10:45 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

You can also check out more figure skating coverage at CBC Sports Giftsour weekly show spotlighting the best elite athletes from Canada and around the world. The show, hosted by Brenda Irving, joined by Kurt Browning and Carol Lane, can be streamed Sundays at 2 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.