Northeast Times

When Elvis skates, it’s like dancing on air

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes an interview with professional skater Elvis Stojko, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, three-time world champion and seven-time Canadian champion.
Elvis Stojko became interested in ice skating when he was watching someone on television spinning and doing tricks.
"I bugged my parents until they finally took me, around when I was four," he said. Between the ages 5 and 8, he would practice a couple of times a week in the winter. The coach he was working with said he had talent and should put more time in.
"It gradually grew from sort of a recreational thing, and by the time I was eight I started training harder," he said. "By the time I was nine I moved to a better club that had top national skaters and started training pretty much all year around."
He recalled it was a pinnacle in his life, and he was training five or six days a week before and after school.
"It became the main part of my life," he said.
He then realized that he would be successful as a skater.
I asked him if he remembered his very first contest and trophy.
"This is funny!" he laughed. "I still have this trophy from 1977 because it was my first one. At this club, there were only two male skaters. Back then, they decided to lump the girls and guys together. They didn’t think a guy would win, so I ended up getting a little girl’s trophy. The trophy has a little girl doing the little skating thing with my name on it."
Elvis, who turned 33 years old on March 22, believes skating as an amateur vs. a professional is very different. The biggest difference is the traveling.
As an amateur, he said, "your whole focal point is your next competition. Your training and all of your energy goes toward that one goal. The pressure and stress of competing is super high. Usually you get sick after you compete, because your immune system gets bombarded by the stress. As a pro, you are going from one show to another. You are traveling a lot, not only in the U.S. but all over the world."
As a pro he is barely in one spot more than two weeks at a time.
"The stress is different. The stress is not so much the pressure of actually performing, but the stress of traveling and getting the work done that you have set out for yourself," he explained.
The second pinnacle in his life was in 1990, when he made the world team for the first time.
"I knew I could do it, but when you actually do it, it is still amazing and a great moment," he said.
The third pinnacle occurred in 1992 when he made the podium in the world championship in Oakland when he came in third. When he looked up and saw Kurt Browning and Victor Petrenko next to him, he realized how close he was to being the best in the world. These were a couple of key moments in his career.
I asked Elvis why it was more difficult for women than men to perform the famous triple lutz.
"A lot of it has to do with the way our body is made up," he said. "We’re obviously totally different. Especially for a triple lutz, you must have good technique and good power. Some of the other triple jumps are a little easier, and you can get away with a little bit of power, a little bit of technique.
"A lot of times," he added, "the girls that have thinner hips tend to rotate easier in the air, but when they go through puberty some girls tend to end up getting voluptuous bodies, and that kind of makes it difficult to complete the rotation of the jump. Guys are able to have the power to push through a larger body frame, like myself."
Elvis feels that the hardest jump he has ever performed was the quadruple lutz, which he has successfully landed in practice.
This jump consists of three jumps more difficult than the quadruple toe loop, which is being done in competition now. The actual jump in competition that he feels is most difficult to do is the axle jump.
"To do a triple axle is three and a half revolutions, so in order to do a quad axle you have to do four and a half revolutions, which is just mind-boggling," he said. "There are a few guys in the world who have tried them, but it is insane. The amount of power it takes to do that is crazy."
A lot of guys are getting injured now because the quadruple jumps are coming into play, he added.
As a pro it takes three or four days to work on a skating program to feel comfortable with it. Next, he has to perform it five or six times under pressure to get an idea of what it feels like.
"So it takes at least a month before it starts to feel really comfortable," he explained.
As an amateur for a long program, it takes six months to become really comfortable, because there are so many jumps and so many technical things that have to be completed, he said.
His favorite programs to perform include Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1994 and Dragon Heart in 1997.
"I like music that is really powerful, makes people stand up and take notice," he said.
As a pro, he likes skating to rock ’n’ roll music, technoid dance, or whatever will get the crowd or him going.
Elvis has had five serious injuries during his career. He believes that acupuncture he has received from Susan McCray, who travels with him, allows him a faster recovery.
On the personal side, Elvis has one brother and one sister and two supportive parents. His educational background includes three years of college at York University in Toronto.
He has visited every state in the U.S. except for maybe one or two. Brian Orser, Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton have been great influences on Elvis as a skater, but Orser has had the most.
"Growing up, eventually doing shows and touring with them is such a great thing," Elvis said, adding that he and Orser trained together and shared the same coach, Doug Leigh.
Elvis does not see himself skating in five years. Instead, he sees himself singing, acting and still competing in the martial arts. He sees his legacy as bringing in the quad jump and making it mandatory for everyone to do it.
"I feel that I made men’s figure skating into a more athletic sport and less like a ballet dance," he said.
Due to his performing, Elvis doesn’t spend a lot of time in any one place.
"I live out of my suitcase," he explained.
He spends a lot of time in Alabama with his girlfriend, but he also goes back to Canada, where his family lives.
I will end this article with Elvis Stojko’s statement: "It’s not about victory or defeat. It’s about the challenge to one’s self."
You can see Elvis and all the other great skaters on Saturday at the 27th John Hancock’s Champions on Ice show at the Wachovia Spectrum.

CONTEST REMINDER

Four winners will win two tickets to the Academy of Natural Sciences, located at 19th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
You can use your tickets to see two new exhibits: Dogs: Wolf, Myth, Hero & Friend — which runs from June 4 through Sept. 5, and, as their news release says, "sniffs out the facts on dogs and explores what makes our relationship so unique," — or What In the World Is It?, which runs April 9 through Sept. 5.
It is designed especially for families with children. This fun animal identification maze offers explorers a walk-through adventure in search of five mystery animal stations hidden deep within its twisting turns. A world habitat game card serves as the passport and guide for visitors in seeking out each station.
Write a few sentences on what you would like to find on an archeological dig. Please state your age so I know which tickets to send. Entries must be received by April 21. Send them to wmkidscolumn@aol.com