Stojko to return at Cup of China


By BEVERLEY SMITH
Globe and Mail Update

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Three-time world figure-skating champion Elvis Stojko received a
rather distressing welcome back to the competitive wars yesterday
when he was assigned to the Cup of China event at Beijing in November.

It means Stojko, 31, may have to journey to a country that is the
birthplace of SARS. China has been the hardest-hit country in the
world with severe acute respiratory syndrome, suffering more than
5,000 cases and 315 deaths. About 2,500 of the infections and 167 of
the deaths have been in Beijing.

World pairs champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China, who usually
train in Beijing, have been working in Harbin instead.

Stojko could not be reached for comment yesterday. He was en route to
Sacramento as part of the Tom Collin's Tour of Champions.

The Cup of China is a new event on the Grand Prix circuit, and
replaces a competition in Germany. The International Skating Union
already is questioning whether the event will take place, saying in a
release that it will reach a decision on a possible move to another
venue by Aug. 1.

Ed Futerman, Stojko's agent, was taken aback yesterday when told by a
reporter that the athlete — who has just announced his return to
Olympic-eligible competition — was to compete in Beijing. "I am
concerned," Futerman said.

Stojko made requests for various Grand Prix events through Skate
Canada, but a Grand Prix commission makes the final decision on where
skaters will compete. Cup of China wasn't one of Stojko's
preferences, Futerman said.

"But I guess we're not in a position to pick or choose," Futerman
said, referring to Stojko's absence from eligible competition last
season. Because he did not compete, Stojko is not a seeded skater.

He has also been assigned to compete at Skate Canada in Mississauga,
Ont., from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, an event that will be a homecoming of
sorts for the seven-time Canadian champion. It will be his first
competition in 20 months, since a disappointing performance at the
Salt Lake City Olympics.

But because the Skate Canada event is the week before Cup of China,
Stojko faces another unenviable task: going from Mississauga to
Beijing, and competing after time changes and hours riding in a plane.

"This is not a good year," Futerman said glumly.

Also assigned to the Cup of China are Canadian champion Emanuel
Sandhu, world silver medalist Timothy Goebel of the United States,
Brian Joubert of France, and Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin of
Russia, making a comeback after hip problems forced him to withdraw
from Skate America and miss the remainder of last season.

Yagudin was interested in competing at Skate Canada, where he is
revered, but Russia is sending current world champion Evgeny
Plushenko instead. Yagudin will compete at Trophée Lalique in France.

Shen and Zhao have been assigned to Skate Canada.

Stojko is not alone in having to make the long journey. Sandhu also
competes in both, along with pairs skaters Anabelle Langlois and
Patrice Archetto, who finished fifth at the world championships last
March. Langlois and Archetto, who often have the most arduous
schedules, have also been assigned to NHK Trophy in Japan, three
weeks after the Beijing event.

Six-time Canadian champion Jennifer Robinson also faces the
exhausting Mississauga-Beijing run, with assignments at both Skate
Canada and Cup of China.

Reigning world champion Michelle Kwan of the United States has not
been listed to compete in any Grand Prix events. She wasn't on the
original list last season, either, but was a last-minute addition to
Skate America, an event that ignited a stellar season.

There are no Canadian men competing at Skate America in Reading, Pa.,
Oct. 23 to 26.

Olympic pairs champions Elena Berezhnaia and Anton Sikharulidze of
Russia have turned professional.