Elvis Stojko

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

1 Biography
2 Sports merits
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
6 Navigation

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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.

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Sports merits

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 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.

At the 1991 World Championships, he became the first person to land a quadruple-double jump combination; at the 1997 World Championship he became the first person to land a quadruple-triple jump. 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.

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