Ice not the only place Elvis can be happy now

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This article was published 10/05/2016 (3741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Elvis Stojko who’s back in Winnipeg this week with Stars on Ice is not the same Elvis Stojko who last performed here a decade ago.

Sure, he’s still got the taut, athletic body and on-ice moves that earned him legions of adoring fans, but inside he’s a different man.

Stojko no longer lives to win. These days, he says, he lives to be happy.

Forgoing the spotlight to live in Mexico for 12 years — part-time at first and, later, year-round — allowed him time to do a lot of soul-searching. That changed his approach to life and how he defines success.

“Simply, it’s just looking at life in a certain way. It’s not do or die. The success of what I do in a career does not define my self-worth. If you fail at something, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t affect my self-esteem. Sometimes things don’t go, just because they don’t go.

“It’s tough as an athlete, because you take everything so seriously,” said Stojko, now 44.

“Leaving competitive skating is not an easy thing. Leaving competition, a lot of athletes go through quite a lot of depression at some point, whether theirs was a win, lose or draw at an Olympic level.”

Stojko became a household name in the 1990s, winning seven national and three world titles, as well as two Olympic silver medals. When he moved through an arena at a figure-skating championship in Canada, he had to be surrounded by big burly men to keep from being mobbed by fans.

The more medals he won, the brighter his star shone and the greater the pressure became to keep on winning.

When Stojko retired from competition at age 30 following an unsuccessful bid for a third Olympic medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, he took up residence in Mexico, where he could live in relative anonymity.

During the next four years, he commuted to Canada and the U.S. to perform in shows, including a rare turn with Stars on Ice in 2006. The end of that tour also marked the beginning of his self-imposed, two-and-a-half-year hiatus from the ice.

His soul-searching, he said, allowed to him to relieve a lot of tension. “It took a lot to release all of that because I was programmed. That was part of competition; who I was and what I did.

“When my family life settled down, when my parents had their divorce and that kind of settled, I found my own space just being Elvis who skates instead of people knowing me as Elvis the skater.”

Stojko moved back to Canada in 2014, with his wife, Gladys Orozco, a Mexican figure skater and model whom he married in 2010.

He re-established his connection with the figure-skating world around the same time, having decided he still loved the sport. He’s also dedicated to his burgeoning career as an actor.

A lead role in the made-for-TV movie Ice Girls, which aired on Family Channel this winter, afforded Stojko the opportunity to combine his two passions. Positive reviews for the film garnered the attention of U.S. networks.

“Now, I’m not locked into one thing. I’m experiencing life and enjoying other things instead of just skating,” Stojko said.

“The last four years I was racing (go-karts). The acting thing is my main focus now, together with the skating. It makes me really happy to be able to do that stuff and share it with my wife.

“I enjoy the process of (acting), going to classes and working on the craft. I find it really fulfilling. That makes me happy.”

So, too, does being back on tour, travelling with his wife and spending time with their three dogs, Stojko said.

“I absolutely love being married. She’s amazing. We just bought a new property and house (outside of Peterborough, Ont.). It’s 100-some acres with lots of trees and hills, nature and wildlife. I love getting up in the morning, walking the dogs at 6 a.m. I’m not a morning person at all, but I’ll get up for that no problem.”

On Wednesday at MTS Centre, Stojko will perform programs he described as “two extremes.” The one set to OneRepublic’s Love Runs Out is fast, in-your-face and lots of fun, he said, while the other, set to Pieces by Red, is more lyrical.