Канадалық мәнермен сырғанаушы Элвис Стожконың өмірі мен жетістіктері

Canadian figure skater

Elvis Stojko, (born March 22, 1972) is a Canadian figure skater. He was a three time World champion (1994, 1995, 1997), two time Olympic silver medallist (1994, 1998), and seven time Canadian champion (1994, 1996–2000, and 2002).

Stojko was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada to a Hungarian mother and Slovenian father and was named after Elvis Presley, of whom his parents were fans. His father arrived in Canada on a boat in 1955 and his mother, Irene (Irén), fled the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Stojko grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Stojko competed in the 2005 WKA Canadian Championships and placed first in the Chinese martial arts division. He has been involved with Ronald McDonald Children's Charities in Canada. He settled in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico in 2001. They now live on 140 acres near Bowmanville. On October 3, 2021, Stojko was revealed to have been named in the Pandora Papers by the CBC.

Stojko began skating at the age of four and won his first trophy when he was eleven.

At the 1991 World Championships, Stojko became the first person to land a quadruple double jump combination. He later said he had studied VHS tapes of Kurt Browning, Brian Boitano, Alexander Fadeyev, and Jozef Sabovčík to help him master the quad.

Stojko sustained a serious ankle injury during practice for the 1995 Canadian Championships, but was determined to compete anyway. He began his short program but was not able to complete it due to the injury, and was awarded a bye to the 1995 World Championships. His 1995 World Championship skate is regarded as one of his most impressive competitive outings because he completed his full routine despite his still unhealed injury. Although in second place after the short programme behind American Todd Eldredge, Stojko won the free skate – and his second world championship – with a performance that included a triple lutz triple toe loop combination in the closing seconds of his programme.

At the 1996 World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Stojko fell on his triple axel combo jump, leaving him in seventh place after the short programme. In the free programme he included a quadruple jump combination (the only one in the competition) and moved him all the way up to fourth, just off the podium behind American Rudy Galindo, who won the bronze. His quadruple toe loop–triple toe loop was the first ever performed by a skater in a major competition.

Stojko won the 1996–97 Champions Series Final (Grand Prix Final) in Hamilton, Ontario, skating to the movie soundtrack of "Dragon Heart". Two other skaters also landed quad jumps during the free skate (Ilia Kulik and Alexei Urmanov), but not in combination as Stojko did. At the 1997 World Championships, he again had a strong short programme and placed fourth going into the free. Approximately halfway through the free skate, Alexei Urmanov, leader after the short programme, withdrew from the event with an injury, while Ilia Kulik, in third, had a performance that put him out of contention. Stojko then took the ice and landed his quad triple combination to earn two perfect scores of 6.0 and another world title.

Stojko entered the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan as the heavy favorite and was expected to become the first Canadian man to win an Olympic gold medal. He did not disclose to the media that he had suffered a groin injury and was also recovering from a flu that had struck many other athletes during the Games. He was unable to take painkillers due to the possibility of failing his drug test. He later stated in an interview that he was already feeling stiff and sore during the warm up prior to the long program, and therefore downgraded his planned quadruple toe loop to a triple, likely costing him a chance at gold. Later in the programme, on the landing of a triple axel, Stojko aggravated the injury even further, saying he "felt something snap." He still managed to successfully complete four more triples after that point, and won the silver medal. In February 1998, Stojko published a book, Heart and Soul, about his career.