WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Sabovcik cherishing family, performing, coaching by LOIS ELFMAN
Tis past April, two-time European cham- pion (1985–86) and 1984 Olympic bronze med- alist Jozef Sabovcik achieved closure on the most painful experience of his skating career. When he was invited to skate in a show in Geneva, Swit- zerland, he hesitated to accept because that was where his amateur career came to a crashing end at the 1986 World Figure Skating Champion- ships due to a knee injury. “My knee blew up and led to all these sur-
geries,” recalled Sabovcik, who was born in what is now Slovakia and represented Czechoslovakia in competition. “So I had a little bit of appre- hension going to Geneva. I was thinking this is where my amateur career ended, what if my pro career ends here, too.” He needn’t have worried, a great show and a fantastic time not only forged a new memory, but reinforced the fact that sometimes the best things in life can happen after the biggest disappoint- ments. Although it took Sabovcik, 49, several years to feel strong and make his impact as a pro-
8 DECEMBER 2013
fessional skater, once he did there was no looking back.
While his schedule isn’t as packed as it was a decade ago, he still performs in 25 to 30 shows a year. He skates a lot in Switzerland in shows pro- duced by his good friend Laurent Tobel, a former competitor for France, and in the renowned Sun Valley summer ice shows, where Sabovcik recent- ly finished his 21st season. “I love to be out in front of an audience,”
Sabovcik said. “I’m jealous of singers and musi- cians because they keep getting better with age. I wish I was physically still capable of doing what I did back in the 1990s. I get all these requests about doing old numbers. I actually would like to do some of my old numbers, but some of them should not be touched.” His knees are healthy (no surgery since 1997) and while there are some concessions to age, Sabovcik has sustained a remarkably high technical level. He credits his strength to the skating skills instilled in him by compulsory fig-
Sabovcik shares the Olympic podium with Scott Hamilton, center, and Brian Orser, left.
ures. He trains four days a week. “I actually enjoy the practicing better than I
did before,” he said. “I never really liked practic- ing. I never really liked competing either. I liked performing. Now, I’m kind of enjoying the prac- ticing — going to the rink and working hard for
DUOMO PHOTOGRAPHY, INC
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