SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Skating
SLAM! Stojko
COLUMNS
REVIEW
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Stojko doubtful for worlds, Sandhu prepares quad
RICHMOND HILL, Ont. (CP) -- The possibility Elvis Stojko will be fit enough by the end of the week to try for a fourth world figure skating championship appears remote.At practice on Monday in Barrie, Ont., he would not attempt jumps.
The world's qualifying session in Minneapolis is in 12 days. Stojko says he'll announce Friday whether he's in or out, which leaves him three days to manufacture an incredible recovery from a strained groin muscle he aggravated while winning Olympic silver medal one month ago in Nagano, Japan.
"He's our wounded warrior," coach Doug Leigh said as Stojko carefully glided around the ice.
They will not risk further injury.
"We're dealing with a career here," Leigh said. "We have to think about the big picture.
"We don't have a lot of choice other than to take our time and be patient. We haven't pushed ourselves to any kind of limit. So, it's wait and see, make the best of this week and see what happens. We'll know Friday."
A Stojko pullout would leave Jeff Langdon, from Barrie, and Emanuel Sandhu, from Richmond Hill, representing Canada.
Langdon, who placed 12th at the Olympics, is capable of reaching the top-eight at worlds, while Sandhu will be competing in his first international senior meet.
Sandhu, who finished second to Stojko at the Canadian championships in Hamilton in January, was tabbed by many as Canada's next figure skating star.
The Canadian Olympic Association's decision to not send him to Japan because he hadn't met qualifying criteria was controversial.
"I don't think my performance at the Canadian championship was a fluke," said Sandhu, 17. "And I'm really good at handling pressure.
"It's something I thrive on."
But willowy, 120-pound skater has his fingers crossed, hoping Stojko will skate in Minneapolis. Otherwise, expectations might be overwhelming.
"Too much, too quick, is not good for any athlete," said his coach, Joanne McLeod. "I would like to see Elvis in Minneapolis."
Sandhu views the world championships as the first step to his goal -- the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
"Basically, I'm just going there to skate well and to make a good first impression," Sandhu said after a workout in his and Stojko's home town just north of Toronto and 70 kilometres south of where Stojko trains.
McLeod believes Sandhu can win the Olympic gold medal in 2002.
"There is a skating star about to be born here," she says. "Our goal is to achieve what nobody has achieved in Canadian men's skating."
That would be Olympic gold.
It is a long road to get there, but Sandhu's work ethic is not in question.
"He's always saying to me, 'Whoa, I've got to get my ass moving,"' McLeod says. "He can be hard on himself that way."
Sandhu landed a 3 1/2-revolution triple Axel for the first time on his 15th birthday. Now, he's ready to slip a four-revolution quad into his long program. The quad has become mandatory for a skater to be among the world's best.
"When the toast comes out of a toaster burnt, that's the way you feel without the quad," said McLeod. "He's going to need two quads eventually."
While McLeod can make comments about Sandhu's potential that can sound outrageous, she is wise enough to understand that he is just now setting out on a long, pothole-strewn road.
At his first world championships, Sandhu is a longshot.