SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Skating
SLAM! Stojko
COLUMNS
REVIEW
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
King Elvis' reign over?
Toronto Sun
Shortly after performing an excellent long program to place second overall at Skate Canada last weekend, Stojko was asked if he had watched "Evgeny" skate.
Meaning Evgeny Plushenko, the 16-year-old Russian sensation who had just snatched victory away from Stojko by nailing a quad-triple jump combination.
With a straight face, Stojko said: "Evgeny Pliuta?"
Evgeny Who-ta?
If Stojko was a bit reluctant to sing the praises of Plushenko, the new phenom in singles skating, you really can't blame him.
Since 1991, when, at 18, he became the first to land a quad toe-double toe combination jump in competition, Stojko has been the sport's barometer, against whom all other skaters are measured technically.
Now, as Plushenko demonstrated at the Kamloops Riverside Coliseum, the rest of the world is catching up. And unless Stojko skates a near-perfect program, it's conceivable he may not win a medal at the 1999 world championships in March.
That's hard to fathom. In years past, Stojko was so far ahead technically, he won world titles even with relatively low artistry scores. No longer.
Consider this: At last year's worlds in Minneapolis, the organizing committee released a list of skaters who had been practising quads during practice. The list did not include Ilia Kulik of Russia, who had just won the Olympic title on the strength of huge presentation scores, a quad toe and eight triples. Kulik decided to skip the worlds. Nor did the list include Stojko, who withdrew because of a groin injury aggravated in Nagano.
TECHNICAL TRICKS
The list contained 11 names. Some of whom, including Plushenko, since have landed quad-triples. Others were practising quads never performed in competition, such as American Michael Weiss, who had been working on a quad Lutz. Germans Andrejs Vlascenko and Sven Meyer were working on quad Salchows. A teenager from China, Zhengxin Guo, landed two quads in his long program in Nagano. Another teen, Tim Goebel of the U.S., could be landing three different quads by the end of the season.
Granted, most of these guys can't do other technical tricks Stojko lays out on a consistent basis, but there are a handful, including three Russians -- Plushenko, defending world champion Alexei Yagudin and 1994 Olympic king Alexei Urmanov -- who are starting to match The Terminator jump for jump, while often scoring higher presentation marks.
And that's a troubling sign for Stojko fans. At 26, the three-time world champion is now an elder statesman in figure skating and even though he too has practised quads other than the toe, winning a fourth title at the worlds in Helsinki will be a tall order.
Stojko hasn't lost it. He's still pushing the envelope. The irony is, The Terminator is now being challenged technically only because, for years, he has dared the world to catch him.