Elvis Stojko

Elvis Stojko

Stojko at Canada House during the 2002 Winter Olympics
Personal information
Country represented  Canada
Born March 22, 1972 (1972-03-22) (age 39)
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Former coach Uschi Keszler, Doug Leigh
Skating club Richmond Hill FSC
Retired 2002
Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Silver 1994 Lillehammer Men's singles
Silver 1998 Nagano Men's singles

Elvis Stojko, MSC, MSM (born March 22, 1972) is a Canadian figure skater. He is a three-time World champion (1994, 1995, 1997), two-time Olympic silver medalist (1994, 1998), and seven-time Canadian champion (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002).

Contents

Personal life

Stojko's 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, Irenee, escaped through the Russian Invasion in 1956. Stojko 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 competed in the 2005 WKA Canadian Championships and placed first in the Chinese martial arts division. 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.

Stojko settled in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico in 2001.[1] On June 20, 2010, he married Mexican figure skater Gladys Orozco in Las Vegas.[2] They reside in Ajijic.[3]

Career

1991 - 1993

At the 1991 World Championships, Stojko became the first person to land a quadruple-double jump combination. He later said he had studied VHS tapes of Kurt Browning, Brian Boitano, Alexander Fadeyev, and Jozef Sabovcik to help him master the quad.[4]

At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he finished 7th despite skating a technically strong routine, but a month later he made his first appearance on a major international podium when he placed 3rd at the 1992 World Figure Skating Championships behind winner Viktor Petrenko and Kurt Browning. In 1993 at the World Figure Skating Championships he finished 2nd, once again behind Kurt Browning.

1994 - 1998

Stojko made his mark on the figure skating world in 1994, beginning with the Canadian National Championships in Edmonton. Skating to the soundtrack of "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story," he defeated Kurt Browning in the free skate to win his first Canadian National Championship. At the 1994 Winter Olympics at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre, he skated well enough in the short program to place second, putting him in good position heading into the free skate, after three of the pre-Olympic favourites (Brian Boitano, Viktor Petrenko & Kurt Browning) had disappointing short programs. Stojko had a strong performance in the free skate, despite popping a planned triple axel combination (which he later replaced by doing another triple Axel combination spontaneously) and won the silver medal. Stojko entered the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan as the favourite and won his first world championship with a performance that included another quadruple jump.

Stojko suffered a serious ankle injury during practice for the Canadian Championships in 1995, 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 he completed his full routine despite his still-unhealed injury. Although in second place after the short program behind American Todd Eldredge, Stojko won the free skate - and his second world championship - with a performance that included a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination in the closing seconds of his program.

At the 1996 World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta he fell on his triple axel combo jump, leaving him in 7th place after the short program. In the free program, he included a quadruple jump combination (the only one in the competition) and moved him all the way up to fourth, just off the podium behind American Rudy Galindo, who won the bronze. His quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop was the first ever performed by a skater in a major competition.

Stojko won the 1997 Grand Prix Final in Hamilton, Ontario, skating to the movie soundtrack of "Dragon Heart". Two other skaters also landed quad jumps during the free skate (Ilia Kulik & Alexei Urmanov), but not in combination as Stojko did. At the World Championships later that year, he again had a strong short program and placed fourth going into the free. Approximately halfway through the free skate, Alexei Urmanov, leader after the short program, withdrew from the event with an injury, while Ilia Kulik, in third, had a performance that put him out of contention. Stojko then took the ice and landed his quad-triple combination to earn two perfect scores of 6.0 and another world title.

Stojko entered the 1998 Winter Olympic games in Nagano, Japan as the heavy favourite, and was expected to become the first Canadian man to win an Olympic gold medal. He did not disclose to the media that he had suffered a groin injury and was also recovering from a flu that had struck many other athletes during the Games. He was unable to take painkillers due to the possibility of failing his drug test. He later stated in an interview that he was already feeling stiff and sore during the warm-up prior to the long program, and therefore downgraded his planned quadruple toe loop to a triple, likely costing him a chance at gold. Later in the program, on the landing of a triple Axel, he aggravated the injury even further, saying he "felt something snap." He still managed to successfully complete four more triples after that point, showing no indication of his injury until the end of the program when he doubled over in pain and had to be helped off the ice by his coach and choreographer. He won the silver medal, although 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 to avoid aggravating his groin injury. After the Olympics, though, he gave an interview about the performance and wept when people referred to him as "gutsy" and "full of courage".

1999 - 2002

Stojko finished 4th in the 1999 World Championships and 2nd at the 2000 World Championships. At the Salt Lake Winter Olympics in 2002, he placed 8th. He turned professional in 2002, but 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.

2003 - present

Stojko was a commentator for CTV/TSN for the men's event at the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships in Washington, D.C. In 2006, he was a celebrity judge on the WE tv series Skating's Next Star, created and produced by Major League Figure Skating. The show was hosted by Kristi Yamaguchi.

He retired from skating on August 10, 2006. His farewell performance was a gala performance for the Mariposa skating club, where he trained most of his amateur career. He took part in ISF Entertainment's acrobatic ice show, "A Rock & Roll Fantasy", in the July 2010 Calgary Stampede.[5]

Stoko provided commentary and analysis for Yahoo! Sports during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.[6] He wrote an article criticizing the judging system during the 2010 Olympics, saying that it did not reward athletes for undertaking quadruple jumps. Criticism followed, as there are those who believe figure skating should be a combination of athleticism and artistry, whereas Stojko's comments advocated that figure skating tallies should be based on athleticism, e.g. jumping abilities. He later commented that to reward Evan Lysacek with the gold medal during the 2010 Olympics meant that Johnny Weir was underscored and should have been awarded a bronze medal rather than placing 6th in that competition.

Media appearances

Accomplishments

Results

Event 1984-85 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02
Winter Olympic Games 7th 2nd 2nd 8th
World Championships 9th 6th 3rd 2nd 1st 1st 4th 1st WD 4th 2nd 10th
Four Continents Championships 3rd 1st
Canadian Championships 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Grand Prix Final 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd
Skate America 8th 4th 3rd
Skate Canada International 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd
Nations Cup 1st 1st 6th
Trophée Lalique 3rd WD
NHK Trophy 2nd 1st 1st WD
Karl Schäfer Memorial 2nd
Winter Universiade 2nd

See also

References

  1. ^ Doolittle, Robyn (October 24, 2011). "Stojko swaps frigid rinks for tropic sun". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/sports/panamgames/article/1075331--stojko-swaps-frigid-rinks-for-tropic-sun. Retrieved October 25, 2011. 
  2. ^ "Stojko marries Mexican figure skater". Calgary Herald. CanWest News Service. July 7, 2010. http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Sports/Skating/2010-07-07/article-1521883/Stojko-marries-Mexican-figure-skater/1. Retrieved October 17, 2011. 
  3. ^ Buffery, Steve (October 16, 2011). "Stojko jumps from the spotlight". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/2011/10/16/stojko-jumps-from-the-spotlight. Retrieved October 17, 2011. 
  4. ^ Kwong, PJ (October 29, 2010). "The Quad and The Canadians". CBC Sports. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/pjkwong/2010/12/the-quad-and-the-canadians.html. Retrieved October 31, 2011. 
  5. ^ http://cs.calgarystampede.com/blog/2010/07/09/spotlight-on-everything-else/
  6. ^ http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/expertsarchive?author=Elvis+Stojko

External links