Friday, February 15, 2002
Thank you very much ...
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- Elvis Stojko wasn't first at the Olympics. But he had an Olympic first.
Two quads.
"I don't think anyone has done that before. That's a first at the Olympics.
"Two clean quads. I'll go to the Worlds and see if I can throw a third one out there."
The Elvis Stojko Farewell Tour has one more stop.
Stojko waved goodbye to the Olympics from the second-last flight last night finishing eighth, two positions better than he did at the Vancouver worlds last year, and decided to go to Japan in three weeks to wave goodbye to the worlds.
"I can't stop here when the finish line is a month away," he said of the world Figure Skating Championships in Nagano, Japan.
"I thought about that these last couple of days and told Uschi (coach, Kessler). She said 'I know. You won't stop until the finish.' "
The about-to-turn-30 three-time world champion who won two Olympic silver medals ended up two spots behind American Todd Eldredge, the Edmonton '97 world champion who was also on his last legs at these Olympics.
As it happened the two skated back-to-back in the flight before Alexei Yagudin and the other kids fought it out for the gold.
Eldredge couldn't land the quad but nailed eight triples. Stojko had the two quads but only three clean triples.
Both got big payoffs from the crowd before they skated and Stojko extended a hand to Eldredge as he was coming off the ice and the Canadian was going on for his fourth Olympic long program.
"I had to take an extra second. It was a bit overwhelming. I took a little extra time to soak it all in," said Eldredge. "The crowd was awesome."
He kind of liked the idea of skating off into the Olympic sunset with Stojko.
"We're a couple of old guys who have a great respect for each other. We've been competing around the world for 12 years. He's a great champion and a great guy on and off the ice."
An avid golfer, Eldredge says he'd like to get Stojko on the links. But he says he won't be spending any time with Stojko riding around on dirt bikes.
"I'm not as crazy as he is with some of the things he's done," said Eldredge.
Stojko said it's been a long run for both of them, longer than most singles skaters have taken over the years.
"Todd and I, we're the veterans," he said. "He's gone through a lot of things and so have I. We're good friends."
"The injury I had in '98 should have ended my career,'' he said. "I'm proud I'm here."
2002 Games Figure Skating Coverage
