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1993 - 1994 Season
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"Elvis' 1994 martial arts program was his artistic breakthrough." |
Stojko will be skating to the soundtrack from the movie Dragon:
The Bruce Lee Story. The songs are named Dragon Theme, A
Father's Nightmare, and The Dragon's Heartbeat.
Stojko will be the skater not wearing velvet or silk. His shirt will
not be ruffled. His sleeves will not billow. Feb 18, 1994 |
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1994 was the break-through year. It seemed that the door at which Elvis
had been knocking for so long finally opened to him.
Canadians were held in Edmonton in January. Elvis won the short
program decisively. Then, in the long program, Elvis completed eight
triples. He skated with passion and, finally, he received artistic
marks that were high enough to carry him over the top. He had won his
first Canadian Championships gold medal.
Heart and Soul |
 © Photo by Barb McCutcheon |
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"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself.
Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate him." |
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"And it's just knowing yourself, being independent, and being open
with yourself and then reflecting on who you are." |
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Lillehammer, Norway
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 From Canada's Olympic Stories |
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 © Photo by Shaun Botterill |
His technical scores were two 5.8s and seven 5.9s. But his artistic marks
hurt--5.6s to 5.8s and one 5.5. [...] Urmanov ranked highest with five of the
judges and Elvis with the remaining four.
Skating From the Blade
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They don't like Elvis' style. He doesn't point his toes. He doesn't stretch in his camel spins. I mean, there are certain things he doesn't do that Urmanov does. But to me, he was actually interpreting his program…and it comes from the heart.
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Martial arts is certainly different for an aesthetic program. It's got a fairly different connotation of movement to it…The lines are strong. From watching a martial arts class, I see that they have a rhythm that you could almost write music to. 1936-7 Canadian Champion
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Championships Chiba, Japan |
 © Photo by Barb McCutcheon |
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Skating his Dragon program for the last time in major competition,
Elvis reeled off a quadruple toe loop, a beauty. Instead of following it
with a double toe loop as planned, he went for the first official
quadruple/triple combination. So close! Unable to hold onto the landing,
Elvis put a foot down.
When he came off the ice, awaiting his marks, he knew he had done his best, risen to his own challenge. Perfection was impossible. He had aimed for excellence. As his technical scores were displayed above them, Doug Leigh cried out, "A six!" Elvis' eyes opened wide. Happy surprise washed over his face. Then his artistic marks came up, with four 5.9s among them. [...]The new king, Elvis Stojko, was in the center with the gold medal around his neck, singing as the flag slowly rose, "Oh Canada..."
Skating From the Blade |
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 © Photo by Gérard Châtaigneau From Heart and Soul
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"Though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me." (1804-1881)
People look back at the martial arts program of 1994. At the time they
didn't like what I was doing, and now people say, "Wow, that was a
classic artistic program." It was always there. It's just that people
didn't see it because they didn't open their eyes to understand it.
I'm on that pathway of doing something different.
I didn't choose to. I just ended up doing it that way because that's
what feels right for me. |
