Elvis Stojko returns to rink with new outlook on figure skating and himself

Back to the ice for Canada’s Elvis Stojko

TORONTO — After some soul searching in Mexico, Elvis Stojko has returned to the rink with a new perspective on figure skating and himself.

“This is the first time I’ve been back in front of an audience in about three years,” Stojko said Wednesday, referring to his recent performances at the Canadian National Exhibition. “It feels really good.”

The 37-year-old Stojko is a two-time Olympic silver medalist, three-time world champion and seven-time Canadian champion. He has been lacing up his skates twice a day since Friday for the CNE’s Aerial Acrobatics and Ice Skating Show.

“In the very first jump in the very first show, I was nervous,” Stojko told The Canadian Press by phone. “I was going in thinking: ‘Um, this is the first time I’ve done anything in three years.’ Then I’m like: ‘Ah, I’ve got to focus,’ and I did the first jump and I was fine.”

Stojko also plans to skate in shows in the U.S. this fall and in Europe over the winter, but he said he’s not putting pressure on himself.

“I really enjoy that quiet time and I need that and I have to sometimes say ‘no’ to a lot of things in order to get that time to recharge and before, I didn’t do that,” he said.

Last winter Stojko decided to return to the sport he had for the most part left after the 2002 Olympics. He’s been practicing axels and spins at a rink close to his home near Guadalajara. Stojko moved to Mexico about eight years ago to “find out who I am and what I want to do” outside of the “Elvis persona” that has always preceded him.

“People see me a certain way as a skater,” he said. “Some people call me ‘The Terminator,’ ‘The Machine,’ or whatnot … because I was very focused.”

That focus has helped him perform amazing feats on ice.

In 1991, he became the first man to perform a quadruple toe loop, double toe loop combination jump in competition. Six years later, he again made history by becoming the first man to perform a quadruple toe loop, triple toe loop combination jump in competition.

But these days, he says, “Skating is not who I am, it’s something that I do and something that I express who I am through. It’s clearer to me. It’s like skating when I was a kid because you look at the purity of it.”

Stojko feels he now has more control over his career. He said he had often been told to soften his skating style and was seen as a bit of a “rebel” by purists.

“I just stayed true to myself,” he said. “And it was a hard run and you can get kind of annoyed after a while no matter how strong you are when you’re constantly being beaten down.”

Stojko’s biggest interest outside skating is martial arts, something he’s been doing since age 10. Fans will get to see that side of him on the Sept. 12 debut of the Bravo TV series “Star Portraits.”

There’s also his singing and acting aspirations. While he has managed to land a couple of acting gigs, including the 2004 Toronto production of the stage musical “Grease,” he has yet to release his debut album that he’s been promising since 2006. It’s coming, though, he insists.

“We’re working on a distribution deal right now, and just waiting for the right opportunity,” he said.