Figure skating champ Elvis Stojko looks to give back when he visits small-town Canada
'I love small communities,' says Stojko, who grew up in Queensville, Ont.
Having grown up in Queensville, Ont., Olympic silver medallist and three-time world champion figure skater Elvis Stojko has a soft spot in his heart for small-town Canada.
He started skating in Newmarket — still a small town at the time — where some of the greats, like Brian Orser and Donald Jackson, came through his club to inspire the next generation of skaters.
"I've always remembered that, and that added boost to my dreams and goals and things that I wanted to achieve, and that's something that I enjoy giving back," Stojko said.
Stojko has since made a point of visiting small communities across the country whenever he can, to connect with communities and share his love of figure skating.
CBC's Daybreak North host Carolina De Ryk spoke with Stojko ahead of his Mackenzie, B.C., shows on March 1 and 2, 2025.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why is it so important for kids to see figure skating in person?
When you see it on TV, it's different than when you see it live in person. You realize that it's a human being doing it. It's not just something on the television. I remember training with Brian Orser and seeing him on TV for the first time. It was a completely different experience for me. It inspired me. It ignited a fire within me.
I've had conversations with coaches over the years, whether I've done either a show or a seminar, after they would call me or connect with me and say, 'Hey, you know, there's some kids that I work with and they've been on a roll since you've been there. They mentioned either a talk that you had or something you did that inspired them.' It puts a smile on my face. I know I've done my job because that's part of this, paying it forward and everything that was given to me, I'd like to give back.
I think it's fair to say, Elvis, that when you were on the world stage, it was kind of a golden age for men's figure skating in this country. How would you say it compares now?
I was very lucky to be competing in that era. Kurt Browning and I talk about it all the time. It was an amazing time for us, and it was just peaking. It's very different now. It doesn't have the same cachet as it used to have. A lot of skaters end up going to hockey, which is wonderful, but then we lose out on the figure skating side of it. It's not as high profile as it used to be.
People used to sit down and have an exact time that skating was on and everyone would get together and watch skating. It wasn't as accessible as it is now, where people just sort of can randomly watch it on YouTube on their own time. So it's a very different world now watching different sports.
I just want to keep skating going so that we can inspire future champions and continue that legacy that we've had for so long.
Why do you want to see figure skating to continue to thrive in this country?
We have such a heritage: Barbara Ann Scott, Don Jackson, Toller Cranston, Vern Taylor (who was the first man to do a triple axel back in the 70s), Brian Orser, Kurt Browning, Patrick Chan, Tessa and Scott, Liz Manley and Rob McCall and Tracy Wilson. There's these wonderful people that have carried this on and that worked so hard to keep the sport going. We need to continue that.
Skating has always been synonymous with Canada. Skating has always been a massive part of our heritage. People always had skaters to root for. We want to continue that.
It's a wonderful sport. It's not easy. It keeps us in shape. I work with adult skaters as well. And some of them have started later, some of them have been off the ice for 20 years and want to come back and they just love it, keeps them in shape. And so it's just a great activity to be a part of. We want to really keep that going competitively and showcase what we can do at the Olympics and the World Championships as well.
You have two shows in Mackenzie this weekend, along with local figure skaters. What are you most excited about?
I love coming to small communities and meeting the kids and the people that get excited. A lot of them don't get a chance to even go to the bigger shows like Stars on Ice and travel that far to go to the venues. So it's nice to be able to go to these places and skate for the community. I love small communities; they always have either a little mom-and-pop restaurant or there's a bakery or something that they're known for. My wife and I love doing that. So that's a fun part about it as well, getting to know the community and see what's there.
With files from Daybreak North