Elvis Stojko

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Olympic medalist
Elvis Stojko
Medal record
Figure skating
Silver	1994 Lillehammer	Men's singles
Silver	1998 Nagano	Men's singles

Elvis Stojko M.S.C., M.S.M. (born March 22, 1972 in Newmarket, Ontario) is a Canadian figure skating world champion.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Career 3 Media appearances 4 Accomplishments 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 8 Navigation

[edit] Biography

His parents named him after Elvis Presley because they were fans of the singer. Stojko has chosen Presley's music as accompaniment during exhibitions.

Stojko's parents immigrated to Canada in the '50s, his Slovenian father came on a boat in 1955 and his Hungarian-born mother, Irene, escaped through the Russian Invasion in 1956. Elvis was born in Newmarket, Ontario and grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He began skating at the age of 4 and won his first trophy when he was 6; as a child he also studied karate, earning a black belt when he was 16. He has sometimes incorporated martial arts moves into his skating. He also likes to ride dirt bikes.

Stojko has written a book about his career called "Heart and Soul" and he has been involved with Ronald McDonald Children's Charities in Canada.

[edit] Career

Stojko won silver medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Winter Olympics. He won the World Figure Skating Championships in 1994, 1995, and 1997. He also won the Canadian Championships in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002. In 1995 he suffered a serious ankle injury at the Canadian Championships but was determined to compete anyway. He began his short program but was not able to complete it due to the injury, and was awarded a bye to the 1995 World Championships. His 1995 World Championship skate is regarded as one of his most impressive competitive outings because his injury had not fully healed, yet he was able to complete his full routine. Stojko did not participate in the Canadian Championships in 2001.

His silver medal in the 1998 Olympics was earned after a very difficult performance. Stojko had suffered a groin injury and he was also recovering from the flu that had struck many other athletes during the games. He was unable to take strong painkillers because they might have caused him to fail a drug test. He did not tell the media of his groin injury, and this only became obvious when he doubled over in pain after his long program. He found it too painful to skate during the medal presentation ceremony and limped onto the podium wearing sneakers. He chose not to attend the World Championships that year because he did not want to make his groin injury worse. After the Olympics, though, he gave an interview about the performance and started to cry when he heard people call him "gutsy" and "full of courage".

At the 1991 World Championships, he became the first person to land a quadruple-double jump combination; at the 1997 Grand Prix Finale he became the first person to land a quadruple-triple jump. He repeated the feat at the 1997 World Champtionships. At Salt Lake in 2002, Stojko placed 8th in the men's event.

Stojko turned professional in 2002. He briefly reinstated as an Olympic-eligible skater and publicly declared his intention to compete in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, before changing his mind and resuming his professional skating career.

He retired from skating on August 10th, 2006. His last performance was a gala performance for the Mariposa skating club, where he trained most of his amateur career.

[edit] Media appearances

• Elvis performed on Braided's CD "Casey, Ashley and Amber", singing "Before You".
• He guest starred as himself in "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2," an episode of The Simpsons that aired December 17, 2006.
• He appeared as a guest star as himself on the Canadian T.V show Chilly Beach.

[edit] Accomplishments

• 3-time World Figure skating champion: 1994, 1995, 1997
• 2-time Olympic Silver medalist: 1994, 1998
• 7-time Canadian Figure skating champion: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
• 1-time Four Continents champion: 2000
• 1-time Grand Prix Final Champions: 1996/1997
• 1-time winner of the Lionel Conacher Award: 1994

[edit] See also

• List of Olympic medalists in figure skating

[edit] References

• Canoe.ca (2005). SLAM! Presents Elvis Stojko. Retrieved July 2, 2005.
• Brenda Gorman (2005). Stojko, Elvis. Retrieved July 2, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Elvis Stojko: Heart of Gold
• Meritorious Service Decorations Citations

[edit] Navigation