Jozef Sabovčík

Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Bronze 1984 Sarajevo Men's singles

Jozef (Jumping Joe) Sabovčík (born 4 December 1963) is a Slovak figure skater who competed representing Czechoslovakia. He is the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time European Champion (1985 and 1986).

Contents

Career

Sabovčík was born in Bratislava, then in Czechoslovakia, and began skating when he was six years old.[1] He was a six-time national champion of Czechoslovakia. He won the bronze medal at 1981 Skate Canada International and in 1982 he also won bronze at Skate America. At the 1983 European Championships he won the silver medal.

In 1984, Sabovčík captured the Olympic bronze medal behind Scott Hamilton and Brian Orser.[2]

Sabovčík became a two-time European champion with wins in 1985 and 1986. He also won 1985 Skate Canada International and Skate America. His coach was Agnesa Búřilová.

He landed a quad toe loop at the 1986 European Championships. It was approved at the time as the first quad in competition but a few weeks later ruled invalid because of a touchdown with his free foot.[3]

Despite a knee injury, he had to compete at the 1986 World Championships because his federation did not believe he was really injured. He said, "It was the hardest 4½ minutes of my skating career, knowing that I had to finish, but could hardly walk, let alone skate."[1] He retired from competition in 1986.

Sabovčík was known for his jumping ability and later turned it into a lucrative professional career. He is known for an excellent tuck Axel.[1] "Sometimes there is beauty in simplicity and I think an open Axel is very beautiful. A tuck Axel is basically the same thing, but it has a little more edge to it, which is great for me, because I can use it with my rock numbers. If you noticed in my slower, quieter programs I always do an open Axel as it's better suited for that kind of music."[1] He was disappointed by the loss of compulsory figures, saying, "In my opinion, the quality of skating itself (not jumping) has gone down. Figures taught how to use edges, like Robin Cousins and Brian Boitano still do, that with a couple of pushes they can get across the whole rink, you don't see that with the new skaters."[1]

He still performs professionally and is known by the nickname "Jumping Joe". Sabovčík sports a long flowing blond mullet haircut and is known for performing to heavy metal and other rock music.

Programs

Personal life

Sabovčík's first marriage was to Canadian champion Tracey Wainman, with whom he has a son named Blade. His second marriage is to Jennifer Verili, with whom he has a son named Jozef Jaden, born in 2003.

He knows five languages: Slovak, Czech, English, Russian and German.[1] He has dual Slovak and Canadian citizenship but resides in the U.S.[1]

Results

Event 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86
Winter Olympics 3rd
World Championships 19th 16th 12th 16th 6th 4th 4th 6th
European Championships 17th 9th 5th 8th 2nd 4th 1st 1st
Czechoslovakian Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Slovak Championships* 1st
Skate America 3rd 1st
Skate Canada International 3rd 1st
NHK Trophy WD 4th WD

*Sub-national level

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Jozef Sabovcik: Online Interview". GoldenSkate. February 2, 2003. http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2002/020203.shtml. Retrieved April 12, 2011. 
  2. ^ Hloch, Jan (2008-04-21). "Světové krasobruslařské hvězdy nadchly Prahu" (in Czech). Czech Radio. http://www.radio.cz/cz/clanek/103245. Retrieved 28 April 2010. "Fantastickou atmosféru vyprodané haly si plnými doušky vychutnával i bronzový medailista z OH v Sarajevu a mistr Evropy Jozef Sabovčík." 
  3. ^ "The quad: Skating's evolution is for more revolution". CBS Sports. December 2, 1999. http://www.cbssports.com/u/wire/stories/0,1169,1675967_10946,00.html. Retrieved October 31, 2011. 

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