Friday, January 9, 1998
By Beverley Smith
HAMILTON, Ont. -- Elvis Stojko was in a class of his own last night at the
Canadian figure-skating championship.
He was the only skater of the night -- in any event -- whose performance was
so dazzling, he lifted a large crowd out of their seats into a noisy
standing ovation.
He was one of the few to deliver the goods when it counted on a night full
of slips and pratfalls and precious few clean triple Axels. Only one other
skater, Jean-François Hebert of Warwick, Ont., landed one without a sniff.
Even the pairs short program, won by Kristy Sargeant of Alix, Alta., and
Kris Wirtz of Marathon, Ont., was marred by fumbles and slips.
Without a whisper of doubt, Stojko won the short program with the pounding
rhythms of his Japanese taiko-drum music over clubmate Jeffrey Langdon of
Barrie, Ont., and first-year senior skater Emanuel Sandhu of Richmond Hill,
Ont.
The Stojko magic earned him one perfect mark of 6.0 for technique, albeit
from Debbie Islam, who has a tie to the Mariposa School of Skating in
Barrie, Ont., where Stojko trains: Her husband, David, works as a dance
coach there. Mind you, Islam might not have received many arguments over her
decision.
Stojko said Islam's 6.0 was the first he had received in a short program. He
has earned a total of three perfect marks of 6.0 in Copps Coliseum. "I
didn't know what to expect," he said. "It feels good, especially as a
send-off to Japan."
Stojko was the only skater in the men's short program to land a triple Axel
- triple toe loop. Hebert, fifth in Canada last year, landed a triple Axel -
double toe loop. Langdon fell on his attempt, but his program, also to drum
beats, was an impressive piece of work, skated with speed and lots of
footwork.
Interestingly enough, the crowd not only applauded Stojko's mighty jumps,
but his high-flying footwork sections. The program was more impressive than
the one he did at the Champions Series Final in Munich two weeks ago, when
he won the short program over the world's best skaters. Stojko explained
that the more comfortable he gets with the program, the more gestures he
uses to express the music. It showed.
"When you go beyond technique, you don't think about an arm movement," he
said. "It just happens. Head movements, arm movements, gestures just come
out. That is the soul coming out."
Sandhu had his own brand of soul, and he is also technically gifted. He was
the only other skater to attempt a triple Axel - triple toe loop but fell
after the end of the difficult combination. The 17-year-old skater who was
Canadian junior champion only last year, also fell on his double Axel.
But Sandhu, a balletic wunderkind with a steely resolve, said it's not out
of the realm of possibility for him to snatch second place after the long
program tomorrow.
Sandhu not only shows beautiful line, but he does interesting spins, with a
variety of unusual positions, done on both feet. And he can rotate like a
top. One day in practice, he was seen doing three triple toe loops in a row,
as a combination jump.
Stephane Yvars of Saint-Constant, Que., had to pull out of the event after
he warmed up for the short program because of an acute groin strain that
gave him sharp pain into his upper thigh area. He could not even do double
jumps in the warmup.
Promising Jayson Dénommée of Asbestos, Que., is in fifth place after falling
on his triple Axel combination. He landed a beautiful one in the warmup.
The top three couples in the short pair program will be chasing gold in the
final tomorrow after defending Canadian champions Marie-Claude Savard-Gagnon
and Luc Bradet finished second in the short program.
Two-time Canadian champions Michelle Menzies of Cambridge, Ont., and
Jean-Michel Bombardier of Laval, Que., finished third after both falling on
the triple Salchow jumps. All three have passed Canadian Olympic Association
criteria for going to the Nagano Olympics next month, but only two pairs may
go.