Wednesday, January 9, 2002
Leaving the building
This weekend is it for Elvis. His last nationals.
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
HAMILTON -- Even those of us who never bought into that mystic, inner chi stuff he yammered on about, or failed to appreciate those lame movie soundtrack free skates he selected, are going to miss ol' Elvis Stojko when he's gone.
This is it, folks. Last night's qualifying free skate, tomorrow's short and Saturday's second free at the Canadian championships at Copps Coliseum will be the last time we'll get to watch Stojko compete at the highest level, outside of the Salt Lake City Olympics next month and, just maybe, the worlds in March. This will be his final nationals.
And given what's coming up in the men's single competition, that's kind of sad. Richmond Hill's Emanuel Sandhu, he of the golden legs, great artistry and $2 sensibilities, certainly isn't ready to pick up the mantle the way Stojko did from Kurt Browning, or as Browning did from Brian Orser.
With Stojko gone, there's going to be a huge void.
No matter how bad the Canadians got during the previous decade, and there were times when it was pretty bad, there was always Stojko. Before Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, there was Stokjo. Before Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, there was Stojko. When all else failed, there was the Terminator, daring the judges not to give him 5.9s for technical merit after nailing a quad-triple combo and six other triples. Swimming against the tide in international figure skating time and again by laying out tough, masculine programs. And never whining when he was burned by closed minded judges who still believe that Perry Como is a rising young star in the music business.
And now, at 29, Stojko is finally leaving.
"It's slowly sinking in," Stojko said after finishing first in his qualifying group last night. "Today in practice, I felt it a bit.
"I can feel it in my heart. It's sad, but I feel good because I have to move on. It's my choice. I'm ready. I'm very happy."
Skating to The Bruce Lee Story soundtrack, Stojko, a three-time world and six-time Canadian senior champion, flirted with disaster early in his program, when he fell on an attempted quadruple toe jump. But, typically, he put it together and ran off seven consecutive triples, including a triple axel/triple toe combo, to finish ahead of his main rivals, Fedor Andreev, 19, of Ottawa, Sandhu, 21, and Ben Ferreira, 22, of Edmonton. Those four placed 1-2-3-4 in the tough B qualifying group. Nicholas Young of St-Herbert, Que., won the other group. The qualifying round is worth 20% of the total score. No one landed a quad yesterday. Stojko hopes to do a quad lutz in Saturday's free, as a farewell gift to the crowd. With Stojko, you know you'll always get something.
TOUGH TOWN: The Hamilton chamber of commerce will be thrilled about this. Alexandre Hamel of Boucherville, Que., who is skating in the men's junior competition, was mugged by a group of thugs Monday night outside of Copps and liberated of his wallet. "I was thinking about that," said Stojko, who has a black belt in Kung Fu. "I wish I was there (with him). Bring it on."
Stojko is not a fan of the top skaters having to skate in the qualifying round. He believes the top 10 skaters from the previous year should move to the short and the other skaters battle in the qualifying for a spot in the main draw.
"Hopefully you can take that and spread it to Skate Canada," Stojko said. "Maybe they might do something with it. I know a little bit about it, so maybe they'll listen." Probably not.
FIVE-RING CIRCUS: Next year's nationals will be held in Saskatoon ... It's amazing how the organization of an Olympic Games deteriorates almost immediately once the Olympics have been awarded. Before the IOC vote, Salt Lake organizers bragged endlessly about how great their transportation plan was and how everything would run smoothly. Well, this week, SLC organizers admitted that the usual 45-minute jaunt from downtown SLC to the main ski venue at Deer Valley Resort will take closer to four hours during the Games. And once you get there, you have to find a parking lot, wait for a shuttle, take a 15-minute shuttle ride near the venue and then walk 20 minutes through the snow to a security checkpoint. And don't bother bringing a thermos of coffee. It will be confiscated, and not because Mormons don't touch caffeine. No foreign objects in the stands (excluding Canadians) ... American hockey player Kathleen Kauth lost her dad in the World Trade Center disaster (he worked in one of the towers). Kauth chose to stay with the team in the aftermath, to gain strength from her teammates. She was one of the last cuts the other day when the U.S. trimmed its roster to 22 players ... Sign of the times for ol' Dick Pound. The Canadian IOC member was once listed as the sixth most important person in the Olympic movement by Around the Rings. This year, Pound, who lost the IOC presidency to Jacques Rogge, has fallen all the way to 16th, while Rogge is No.1.
2002 Games Columnists
