--- In fansofthemanelvisstojko@yahoogroups.com, "singer skates"
<singerskates@y...> wrote:
> http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?
> forumid=14321&messageid=1051938266
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?
forumid=14321&messageid=1051938266

OK I'll have to copy it from the forum because the link doesn't want
to work.

Q: Why?

A: Ummmmm, cause I feel like I want to be back. It's kinda like, for
4 years from 98 to 02,
getting up out of the bed and trying to get to the rink was a chore.
And I wanted to make
sure that I would have that drive back and that fire back before I
ended my career totally.
And I didn't know if it ever would come back, or when, and it just
happened to be this
year, just after Worlds, around Worlds, I thought 'oh maybe it's
because I went to Worlds
and commentated, maybe it's because I'm around it'. But I left it for
a few weeks, and it
was still there. I'd get up, I'd work out, I'd go to the rink, and
I'd be constantly
thinking about it. And then I realized, wait a minute, I wanna do
this. This is
something I wanted to feel for like 4 or 5 years, the pre-98 season,
and that's what I
feel, I'm ready to go do that now, regardless of age or whatever.

Q: Is it mainly because of the injury situation, that you finally
feel that you're
healthy?

A: Yeah, 98 was an injury that year that should have ended my career,
and I was able to
push through it, but pushing myself to that limit and that strain did
something to my
drive. I didn't trust it anymore, I didn't wanna be around it, I
didn't love skating like
I did before, and I didn't have the vigour and passion for it. I kept
it going because I
knew I had to, for myself, and now I've got it back. I wake up every
morning, wanting to go
to the rink, wanting to train, wanting to be on top of things. You
know, I lost 8 to 10
pounds, I feel much lighter. I just started trying triple axels
again, I hadn't done them
in 4 or 5 months. They feel great, they're coming, everything's
coming, they're easier,
much easier than before, I've got no injuries, my body's healthy, my
mind's healthy, I'm
ready to go.

Q: Mentally wanting to do it is one thing, knowing after this many
years you can still
compete at a world level is another. What do you hope to get out of
this?

A: Hope to get out of this? Uh, reach my potential, which I'm capable
of doing, more than
what I did previous, and that's all I was striving for the last 4
years, but couldn't get
there, because the drive wasn't there, I was constantly battling some
injuries, because of
the mental fight. Alot of times injuries don't just come from a
physical aspect...alot of
it has to do with an emotional and spiritual thing, that you're at a
tug of war, you end up
bringing it upon yourself. And I wanted to be healthy, emotionally
healthy, spiritually,
because that is what does it all! I mean, physical is just a small
part of what I do, and
what athlete's do, and what we're trying to do out there. If we're
happy, we're healthy,
we're passionate about what we do, it's limitless. The limit, it's
just sky high.