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Elvis Stojko revives past Olympic routines at Sears Open in Ottawa

Source: Toronto Star
Date: December 1, 2001
Author: Barre Campbell

OTTAWA (CP) - Elvis Stojko is getting acquainted with old friends for a final shot at the Olympics.

The five-time Canadian and three-time world men's figure skating champion, in Ottawa this weekend for the Sears Figure Skating Open at the Civic Centre, is dusting off routines he performed for the 1994 and `98 Games, and will perform them at the Salt Lake City Olympics in February.

From the short program for the Nagano Games four years ago, Stojko has revived an act done to the beat of Japanese taiko drums. The long program dates back to the Lillehammer Olympics four years before that.

Stojko performed the short program during Friday night's Sears Open competition, and it was worth first place the men's standings.

Three other Canadians - Emanuel Sandhu of Richmond Hill, Ont., Kurt Browning of Toronto and Brian Orser, who now resides in Ottawa - trail Stojko, with Todd Eldredge of the U.S. in fifth and Steven Cousins of Britain in sixth.

At Lillehammer, Stojko wowed the audience with a technically-demanding long program designed as an homage to his childhood hero, Bruce Lee.

Stojko earned top-level black belts in Kempo karate and kung-fu during his teenage years, and many of his programs are based on his background in the martial arts.

However, none so much as the long program at Lillehammer, which he will perform Saturday.

``That program depicts very much who I am,'' said Stojko, 29, who won silver medals in Nagano and Lillehammer.

He placed seventh in his Olympic debut in the 1992 Albertville Games.

At Lillehammer, Stojko received high technical marks for his Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story set, but judges were not sold with the artistic marks. The lower scores for artistry placed Stojko second behind Aleksei Urmanov of Russia.

Rule changes and trends in figure skating after Lillehammer have led judges to become more receptive to athletic oriented styles such as Stojko's, he said.

``A lot of people have asked about that program the last few years, saying it changed skating, and it changed a lot in the sport.''

So the skater from Richmond Hill, Ont., decided to give it another shot, with few changes.

``I didn't really want to do another version of it,'' he said. ``A copy just doesn't do justice to the original. We've adjusted it slightly for the new rules, but it's pretty much the same program that I did back then.''

Browning, a former world champion, understands Stojko's decision.

``Sometimes you wonder why you're doing it, but you might pull it out of the program and think that it's like old skin that you're putting back on,'' Browning said.

``It feels like you put away an old sweater that you loved and forgot about it. Then one day, you find it in a drawer and it's like, `Oh, man, this is fantastic.' That's probably what he's doing.''

Stojko missed much of last season because of injuries, but recovered in time to compete in the world championships in Vancouver, where he was 10th.

Stojko said he is progressing toward top physical condition for the Olympics.

``It's getting there,'' he said. ``It's about 80 per cent at this point, but this all leads up to it.''

Stojko hopes to qualify for next month's International Skating Union Grand Prix Championship in Kitchener, Ont. He is on the verge of getting one of six spots in the $492,000 U.S. event, depending on results of a Grand Prix competition this weekend in Japan. Stojko currently stands fifth.

The Sears competition concludes Saturday with the free skating programs for men, women and pairs.

Josee Chouinard of Rosemont, Que., leads a field of six women's competitors after Friday's short program.

Viktoria Volchkova of Russia ranks second, ahead of Canadian champion Jennifer Robinson of Windsor, Ont., Nicole Bobek of the U.S., Lu Chen of China and Nicole Watt of Melfort, Sask.

Kyoka Ina and John Zimmerman of the U.S. placed first in the pairs short program. Kristy and Kris Wirtz of Bradford, Ont., are second, followed by Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev of Russia.(Ottawa Citizen)