Copps Coliseum

It was born in 1990, and it ends here, at Copps Coliseum, the same building where Browning beat him for the last time in 1993; the same buliding where he landed the first quad-triple in competition in 1997; the same building where after receiving 6.0s in both programs in 1998, Elvis felt the pull in his groin muscle that would kill his gold medal hope in Nagano. ~ Cam Cole, The National Post ~

I went out for my practice and skated around and I looked around, and Hamilton '98 felt like yesterday. It went through my mind that this really is the last Canadians, and how many times I've been here, how many great memories I have of it. I know this is the final one for me. I can feel it in my heart. It's going to be a good feeling this week. It's sad, but I feel good because I have to move on. It's my choice. I'm ready. ~ Elvis Stojko ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

It's another piece of the puzzle. Hopefully, the end of this week and the Olympics will sort of put the whole picture together for me and then I can leave it behind me. ~ Elvis Stojko ~ He is, and always has been, an ancient warrior and should be carried out on his shield...bursting out of the gate in that distinctive, anything-but-classic stride. Fierce as a ninja, spewing nearly a toxic competitive aura. ~ Steve Milton, Hamilton Spectator ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

The crowd bellowed wildly after Stojko landed a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination. It was in this building that Stojko became the first man to land a quad-triple combination in 1997 and he landed it again in this building for the first time since he suffered a troublesome groin injury in 1998. ~ Beverley Smith, The Globe and Mail ~ The collective breath held by 12,000 fans, as Stojko wound up for his opening element, and the deafening roar that greeted its perfect landing -- four revolutions, then three, all in perhaps two seconds -- must rank with any dramatic moment the sport has seen in this country. One of the great moments in Canadian sport. ~ Cam Cole, The National Post ~ When I went up, the crowd went quiet, and when I came down, they went nuts and I couldn't hear anything. ~ Elvis Stojko ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

He is one of the few skaters in history I would have to say who had the courage to be himself. In a sport that likes pretty boys, he did not fit the mould, never tried to, and being true to himself fought the odds. He contributed not only technically but to the legacy of what makes a true champion -- and that is heart. ~ Debbi Wilkes ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

This wasn't about a World Championship or an Olympic gold medal. It was about pride, about wanting to walk away the right way. About wanting to give Canadian fans who have supported him with such fierce loyalty for so long one final show. Few athletes have felt such love and respect from the people of this country, and they were on their feet at Copps Coliseum last night for one final tribute. He has always been his own man, and an honourable one at that, right to the end. ~ Rob Brodie, Ottawa Sun ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

This was the hardest competition of my entire career, the most pressure. People are all saying goodbye to me and wishing me the best, and I wanted to do that final performance here. It's emotional. It's the way I wanted to say goodbye. ~ Elvis Stojko ~ In this building he has done great stuff, and he didn't want to leave it without doing his best. To skate when you are so emotional all week, the pressure is unbelievable. I have been in the sport for many years and I'd never seen anybody have to skate with that kind of pressure. It was pressure that hits you right in the core. He has nerves of steel. ~ Uschi Keszler ~

Elvis Stojko threw down the gauntlet with one of his best performances in years, driving a crowd of 12,126 into a frenzy with his farewell appearance at the Canadian figure skating championships. ~ Beverley Smith, Globe and Mail ~ This was huge, huge. He trusts himself again. ~ Uschi Keszler ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

With 30 seconds to go in his performance, the audience rose to its feet en masse, as if they were reading some psychic cue card. Everyone was screaming and most were crying in appreciation of what they had just witnessed: not just the last domestic dance of the greatest competitor Canadian skating has ever produced, but the sudden resurrection of a career that seemed so securely buried only two years ago. ~ Steve Milton, Hamilton Spectator ~

© 2002 Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau Click on photo to see full screen-size version

In my career I wasn't just fighting to be the best, I was fighting against a lot of people because I believed in something, and people were telling me I shouldn't believe in that -- and so I am leaving this sport knowing that I won. There wasn't a time in my whole career that I sold out, or changed who I am. I won three world titles doing it my way. Two Olympic silver medals, with all the odds against me. Those people who were behind me all the way, I thank you very much, but I also thank the people who made it difficult, because they made me the person you see before you right now. And I thank everyone for that. Everyone. One hundred percent. ~ Elvis Stojko ~ I've had some great times on the ice in Hamilton. It's kind of like a storybook ending for me. This is exactly the way I wanted to say goodbye ~ Elvis Stojko ~

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