Full Comment - Olympians competing in the shadow of lockdowns, boycotts and vaccines

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00:00:45.120 hi i'm anthony fury thanks for joining us for the latest episode of full comment

00:00:54.460 we're in for a real treat today as we're joined by canadian sports icon elvis stoico whose figure

00:00:59.320 skating at the olympics in the 1990s saw him take home two silver medals for canada and today we're

00:01:05.020 going to talk about what the pandemic has meant for athletes the upcoming beijing games and some of the

00:01:10.200 concerns around them and how stoico will soon be touring the country once again with the stars on

00:01:15.080 ice tour elvis stoico joins us now elvis great to have you on the show thanks so much for stopping by

00:01:20.320 oh anthony thanks so much for having me it must feel great to know you're going to get back out

00:01:24.680 there again uh see the fans after i guess a two-year hiatus yeah it's been really uh it's been tough

00:01:31.600 it's been really tough uh both for my my wife and i um we were just fortunately um we're able to do

00:01:38.220 a show down in virginia and at bush gardens that we've we've done previously for five years

00:01:44.140 and not due to covid they had finished the basically the contract and we didn't know if

00:01:49.440 we would go back or not and we were able to uh actually do the show november december so there

00:01:54.320 was like basically 60 shows uh in an outdoor venue at bush gardens which was wonderful so

00:01:59.740 i remember my wife she's in it as well she's also helping with choreography and putting some of the

00:02:04.840 show together and she plays my wife in the show and after the opening we came back and she was in

00:02:10.940 tears because she's like oh my god we're actually doing this again it's been so long it felt so

00:02:15.400 amazing to have you know we had 5 000 people outdoors beautiful venue and um the people were

00:02:22.000 so enthusiastic they love the show a lot of people come every year to see that christmas show

00:02:26.520 and it was just so much fun so i'm really looking forward to getting back to stars on ice

00:02:30.920 uh with my other friends and and getting out there you know with kurt who's been you know

00:02:35.180 we've been friends for a long time competed against each other rivals for many years uh jeff

00:02:40.240 butto i trained with um when he was little as well and then of course you know caitlin and

00:02:44.640 andrew piper and paul um caitlin osmond kirsten and michael so there's gonna be a great it's a

00:02:50.860 great cast and it's just gonna be wonderful to get back out and see the fans again you know you

00:02:54.560 make an interesting point because a lot of people have talked about how they've put family events

00:02:57.860 on hold i haven't seen loved ones but at the same time uh going to regular events people go to

00:03:02.540 see the nutcracker they go to the pantomime they go to see uh you and kurt browning and others on stars

00:03:06.760 and ice i mean it really is these things these cultural moments are really annual recurrences

00:03:11.520 for people it's really part of their lives yeah like for example um like this show down in virginia

00:03:17.800 we didn't know we originally had three we had a three-year contract and they extended it for another

00:03:22.700 two years because the show did so well and you know we're we're going around virginia we're you know

00:03:28.440 going to the mall or stuff on days off and people will come up to me and i'm you know i'm not american

00:03:33.540 i'm canadian and and you know the people come up say oh my gosh elva stoico what a great show we

00:03:38.160 come every year to see the skating show my kids love it we love it it's a little half an hour show

00:03:43.320 called twas that night and it did so well so like that type of thing with stars on ice where stars has

00:03:49.520 been such a staple in canadian history with figure skating showing off all the wonderful athletes and

00:03:56.840 champions over the years that you know people miss that we were bummed the first year and then of

00:04:01.500 course the second year we're like oh my gosh you know so now to be able to go back out again and and

00:04:06.500 and see everyone and connect with the fans the fans that have been supportive of us when we were skating

00:04:12.960 and all the new new skaters because we have such a great fan base in canada they're so supportive

00:04:18.660 of canadian skating they're so supportive of skating in general all even people that are coming from

00:04:23.820 other countries i know alissa cisney who's a multi-time uh national champion from the u.s she's going to be in 1.00

00:04:28.640 the show as well which is great and i just yeah oh when i got when we got the contract and heard that

00:04:34.060 it's going along and we're watching you know uh with bated breath on any changes that that may come

00:04:40.040 up so i i'm just i heard excited news too that the uk is going to be pulling uh all you know passports

00:04:46.780 and vaccines and mass mandates and all this sort of stuff so hopefully that'll set a precedent

00:04:50.600 and and hopefully can push things forward for other countries as well including canada being

00:04:54.780 commonwealth and and all of that so you know i just pray that we're able to uh you know move

00:04:59.720 forward from all of this i know everyone is is having a you know a tough time with it in their

00:05:04.160 own way elvis i know you speak with a lot of upcoming athletes uh you offer them support and

00:05:08.660 mentorship and i'm sure you hear it from from them whether they're people who are heading for the

00:05:11.940 olympics or maybe just a four-year-old five-year-old who's just starting to learn skating or figure skating

00:05:16.940 or hockey that that this stop and start and the absence of ice time the lost years it is i mean i've

00:05:22.540 heard it from from hockey people i've heard from uh junior professional golfers i mean every sport

00:05:26.880 it's like athletes have have been so frustrated i really feel for the young up and comers

00:05:31.880 yeah it's tough and i know that people you know that are not athletes look at it and say well

00:05:37.440 you know there's there's more serious things in life and i'm and i say yes but on the other hand

00:05:42.880 the sacrifice that not just the athlete it's the family it's right everyone involved my parent my

00:05:49.380 you know people say did you have any sponsors i said yeah my dad wow he worked at his own

00:05:53.600 landscaping company you know we weren't making a lot of money and he worked his butt off you know

00:05:58.440 there's times where i remember him getting up at like one in the morning because there was a snowstorm

00:06:04.920 and then i didn't see him till like two in the afternoon and he was plowing all night and then

00:06:09.860 there's and of course those were the times where i was competing the most and he didn't go to the

00:06:13.460 competitions because he was busy at home snow plowing or in the summer i was working with him to help

00:06:18.480 uh you know landscaping cutting grass planting flowers doing maintenance all this stuff

00:06:23.180 growing up as a teenager to help him out and you know it's all of the sacrifice my mom traveled

00:06:29.680 everywhere with me um looking after everything is you know to make sure that i was in the right

00:06:35.660 frame of mind to do the best i could to become a champion and so many friends that are coaches now

00:06:41.480 had called me during the pandemic especially after the first like six months that many skaters had

00:06:46.780 were deciding to retire because they're right on that weird cusp of you know there it was it was

00:06:52.620 that make it or break it season or make it or break it year and of course it landed on covid so they

00:06:57.360 were like well what do i do now you know do i make the national team will i ever you know fulfill my

00:07:01.780 dream and then in skating because like many sports skating it it's perishable it's this perishable skill

00:07:08.560 we call it so if you're not on it every day you lose it and to keep up with the rest of the world

00:07:14.400 like we know that you know russia and japan and all the powerhouses were still allowing athletes

00:07:19.340 to train i know that they were setting up special um i guess uh venues and things that they could

00:07:25.620 train under uh protection of covid and they were able to keep going so we in canada ended up getting

00:07:31.900 you know a little bit of the short end of the stick because they weren't able to put in an

00:07:36.240 infrastructure to allow athletes to keep training in some instances um especially with ice like you can do

00:07:41.620 all the dryland training you want but unless you're touching that ice regularly uh every day

00:07:48.380 it's a very very difficult you lose the feel that sensation and it takes it takes time to get back and

00:07:54.360 my heart goes out to them i'll you know talk to kids or send videos to say hey you know hang in there

00:07:59.100 um and just stay focused it's been very very difficult well do you think canadian athletes might

00:08:04.300 be at a bit of a competitive disadvantage just because to your point other countries uh really found

00:08:09.460 every way possible to do the workarounds and to give them the ice time oh hands down i mean there's

00:08:14.940 there's two points to that that had gone on especially for figure skating i can't speak for

00:08:19.100 other um sports because i don't know fully how they were managed to to to to do it some of them

00:08:25.240 are outdoor sports of course but the indoor sports take a take a big hit because of the uh

00:08:29.380 the venue is not allowing anyone in but we definitely are going to be at a disadvantage uh i think

00:08:35.080 going in um because of that training that the lack of training the other fact too i mean we have a

00:08:40.660 very we'll have a very green team we have a few we have a few veterans but i mean in 2018 we had such

00:08:47.280 a strong team that uh we had lots of veterans on that team lots of experience and they were right at

00:08:53.380 the peak of their careers and now we have sort of a new group coming up that are you know great talent

00:09:00.280 but it's going to take time for them to to uh flourish and with the covid uh lack of training

00:09:07.780 and so forth i think it's going to be it's going to be tough it's going to be really tough you know

00:09:11.200 anything can happen there you know fluky things could happen but good or bad but you know we just

00:09:16.740 want to support the team we have and give them you know because they've gone through so such a

00:09:20.640 difficult time i know there's a variety of competing perspectives when it comes to all these things

00:09:25.240 yo-yoing uh on and off and and i guess some people when things open again they say yes i'm the first

00:09:31.260 one there i want to be there right away i know my boys you know small kids they're they're they're

00:09:35.060 six and eight they really want to get back on the ice do hockey sap others said well i'm not so sure

00:09:38.900 about it for various reasons covid concerns or just they said well i already missed three months i

00:09:43.420 don't want to go back to the season midway do you feel how's this all going to sort out in the

00:09:47.120 wash like are we going to come back stronger uh with sports in canada how does it how does it

00:09:51.760 balance yeah it's going to be it's all mental it's all the mental game like i i uh because because

00:09:57.780 of um you know lack of shows i was teaching tons of hockey so i've got a lot of hockey students i've

00:10:02.960 been working power skating with and the big thing is the mental side you know they're anywhere from

00:10:08.100 you know eight years old to right up to the junior a level ohl level i'm working with um so just keeping

00:10:14.160 them motivated especially talking with the parents i've been speaking with them quite a bit to help

00:10:19.120 them they're you know leaning on me for guidance and i'm like well it's just a matter of just keeping

00:10:23.980 them motivated keep keeping their eye on the ball for the future um and that's the biggest thing all

00:10:30.400 i can relate it to really anthony is that even those years where i was injured for example i use that as

00:10:36.580 my experience base so if i had an injury that took me out for you know six months sometimes you don't

00:10:43.080 know how long it's going to take you just keep your eye on the ball you keep your eye on the dream

00:10:47.360 you don't let go you hang on to that with everything you got and you do the best you can

00:10:52.620 with what you have like so for example for me you know i'm going to be 50 this year and you know

00:10:57.520 taking time off the ice and not training it's very hard for us to get back so for example i was telling

00:11:03.080 the kids i said well i do all my dry landing dry land training as much as i can whatever i can so

00:11:08.180 i'm prepared so when the rink opens up i can get on the ice and at least just focus on the skill set

00:11:14.440 for skating not getting myself in shape so it's the mindset it's the will to not give in and not

00:11:20.340 give in to all of the stuff that's happening and it's difficult there's some that weren't able to do

00:11:24.380 it there's some that are um i see a lot of the kids you know they're all everyone's struggling

00:11:29.080 but you see the ones that are grasping it that have that champion attitude that never give up

00:11:35.080 focus to go you know what i'm not giving up on this i'm going to go and the parents that are

00:11:39.040 supporting them and uh you know i i love being there for them to help them because it's not just

00:11:44.160 simply you know teaching power skating i i help them mentally from all my martial arts background

00:11:50.240 just to stay focused and and channel their willpower so i'm also working with a girl i'm doing some 0.79

00:11:55.340 mentorship work as well um there's a girl that i'm working with who's an equestrian rider believe

00:11:59.800 it or not and a wonderful girl teenage girl um wonderful family and i've been working with her

00:12:05.200 via zoom every week keeping her focused uh getting her zoned in for what she's doing and

00:12:10.860 she wants to make the olympics one day and definitely has a shot at doing it um and then 1.00

00:12:14.680 trying to wade through school and doing stuff online keeping her training going keeping the

00:12:21.200 mental set going so the mentorship stuff i've been doing on the side is has been quite um rewarding um

00:12:28.680 and because it is it is quite a challenge we're very interesting times and uh you know there's lots

00:12:34.700 of difference of opinion um definitely with vaccines and all these different things you know

00:12:40.180 families are split up because of it you know split in different groups and we've we've all heard it and

00:12:45.080 it's it's so difficult and the kids they end up suffering you know and and and it's really hard so

00:12:50.420 just for me i'm just trying to help out as best i can with that and and um you know give myself

00:12:56.300 inspiration as i do it as well so i can keep keep going and i'm just you know uh happy that i can

00:13:02.560 help a few along the way yeah a lot of athletes are in the headlines related to various vaccine

00:13:06.940 issues and i wonder how you'd recommend the public sort of navigate uh those stories because they're

00:13:11.840 obviously hot button issues people have strong opinions about it i see there's a number of

00:13:15.100 athletes who have said that they don't really have concerns with the vaccine so much in terms of

00:13:19.620 vaccine just that they know you know you get a second dose you might have to be in bed for a day or

00:13:24.080 two and they're just saying i i can't do that being in bed for two days i don't have a problem with

00:13:27.800 the vaccine i get it i just don't even want the two days of of side effects that we all admit are

00:13:32.440 happening because i can't lose the ice time or or the field time or whatever the respective sport is

00:13:36.840 yeah and and it's a delicate situation too anthony like even if i talk about it so

00:13:41.900 i've always been pretty open about things so it's a it's very delicate so in in answering that question

00:13:48.800 you know everyone has to i believe everyone has the right to to their own body and decide what they

00:13:54.080 need for themselves that's that that's where i stand on that the second aspect i understand about

00:13:59.260 um i've known number of athletes and i've seen it where they've you know training and they've taken

00:14:04.900 the vaccine and they haven't been the same and i'm not talking about a couple of days it's been

00:14:10.000 you know a month a couple months and they they don't feel like there's another uh through some

00:14:14.860 friends that i've worked with as well on on uh athletics and there's been you know it's been

00:14:22.180 difficult it's been hard on them and uh you know i know there's ways to detox a lot of the stuff

00:14:26.840 um i've had reactions to things years ago so i was very very nervous about it um you know i'm not

00:14:34.380 susceptible to cancers and things like that but nervous system diseases yes and that was one thing

00:14:39.220 that it affected you know different vaccines were affecting so that's that's something that was on my

00:14:44.640 mind and it's not something you know i'm conspiracy theorists and read everything but this is from my

00:14:49.400 own experience with my own body all i can tell people is that i know my body i know it very well

00:14:55.040 as an athlete and that's why athletes a lot of them were like you know what you know especially

00:14:58.820 you know there's there's a whole thing about the tennis thing as well that's going on as well

00:15:02.960 done in australia there's a lot of different things going on and it's it's uh there's so much

00:15:07.260 information there's so much split of opinion but to try to wade through it especially for my wife and

00:15:13.000 i is just to try to stay focused on okay what do we know about our own bodies we've got to stay

00:15:17.220 to to understand it and just don't take one person's word for it do the research that you

00:15:23.620 can speak to other people uh in the know that understand it whether it be chemists or doctors

00:15:29.260 or homeopaths or naturopaths or whatever just to try to find the answer that's gonna that you are

00:15:35.540 gonna feel comfortable because it right you know there's certain people that are just you you can feel

00:15:40.680 in your gut you're like oh this isn't right for me whatever decision it is and you've got to be okay

00:15:45.980 with it and and that's something that's that's really really hard um and again with athletes

00:15:51.420 taking off two three four five six days god knows how long and it's precious because you don't know

00:15:57.240 if a rink is going to close or a venue is going to close that's what was really hard so it is a tough

00:16:02.080 situation no matter what i say people are going to be on one side of the fence or the other and it's

00:16:07.900 hard especially now in the day of social media you know they they attack people right away people

00:16:12.600 are re some people are super outspoken about it some people are a little bit quieter about it

00:16:17.520 um i you know i've been quiet about it because i really don't want to discuss a lot of my own

00:16:23.000 personal medical history with anybody but um you know talking with you just a little bit open just

00:16:28.320 so that it's not simply um written because as we know on social media the tone in which you write

00:16:34.320 is very difficult for people to gauge and that's also hard to to deal with with social media so

00:16:43.660 having proper interviews and talking out so people can hear the full story on on what people are

00:16:48.520 thinking it's hard there's a lot of people that are frustrated um and they're gonna you know say

00:16:54.080 things out of anger and i and i try not to i try to you know anyone i'm mentoring or working with

00:16:59.080 that if you go on social media try not to express your full feelings or or anger on there because

00:17:05.480 once it's on there you know you're going to be tagged with it and it's difficult so just be calm

00:17:11.620 when you make your comments be be level-headed understand your situation fully before you you

00:17:17.260 put something out there because it it can come back and bite you no it's very good advice it's it's

00:17:22.080 sad the divisiveness of it all i can only speak as a parent of of small kids who are up there

00:17:27.280 on the ice getting hockey and i know there's a lot of split opinions on on introducing vaccine

00:17:33.220 mandates and passports two different arenas and the government maybe maybe the government

00:17:37.040 requires it now originally they didn't so some arenas were just making their own choice to bring

00:17:40.920 it in and there was split opinions on it all and and i guess it's sad because um that's as you could

00:17:46.180 speak to far better than than i'm sure i could it's sort of a great equalizer once a kid whatever

00:17:51.500 they're doing they're putting in the hockey gear they're lacing up for figure skating they're going out

00:17:55.020 into uh the soccer field it's the great equalizer you're rich you're poor whatever your background

00:17:59.780 is whatever your ethnicity is you're just getting out there you're being you you're being true to

00:18:03.360 yourself and and it's it's it's so it's so good for kids and any little barrier i think is unfortunate

00:18:09.120 yeah and i know and i'll be honest growing up for me i was a really really shy kid and i wasn't i was

00:18:18.940 you know a little socially awkward and skating helped me get over that but the confidence came

00:18:25.420 from my ability when i trained and trained and my parents were always saying they came from europe

00:18:29.760 in the 50s and they were like you make your way you train hard and it'll pay off you just train you

00:18:34.980 work hard and that was the whole thing i just stayed focused on my game and and was trained really

00:18:39.420 hard and through all of that as i got better as a skater even better as a martial artist or that that

00:18:45.940 physical prowess gave me confidence in myself and i said you know what if i if i can do this physically

00:18:50.320 and get good at it then you know if i want to do something like public speaking which i never thought

00:18:56.080 i'd be able to do and now i i can do it speaking in front of people doing interviews all of that um

00:19:01.520 it gave me the confidence and that was an outlet that allowed me to build that and a lot of kids it's

00:19:08.220 not just simply just winning the game it's about the day-to-day grind that they love to get better

00:19:13.600 at a physical um skill a sport whatever it is it can be at the regional level it can be at the club

00:19:21.000 level it can be at the national level whatever it is world level olympic level it all those demons

00:19:27.900 you break down and you discover who you are and that's a confidence thing when you remove that

00:19:33.560 and then even removing you know with schooling and the social contact with their peers all of that is

00:19:41.500 is it's so detrimental and i'm seeing it i've got friends with kids and they're just they're

00:19:46.520 noticing it you know and it's it's it's very very difficult and i just my heart goes out to them

00:19:52.600 with you as well with with young kids to see that the difference in not having that social contact

00:19:57.760 and sports is so great for that it's such a great way to to to help with the um the confidence

00:20:04.660 understanding and it's and it's a great teacher it's amazing how skills physical skills like that

00:20:10.160 is is a self-teacher in a lot of ways it it's self it's you can self-teach through it all you know

00:20:15.600 understanding failure success not being able to reach the goal reaching a goal all of that is so

00:20:22.260 important and it seems like kids respond well to that is is that your impression when you're when

00:20:27.380 you're working with younger uh skaters when you're mentoring hockey players yeah because there's there's

00:20:33.060 kids that i i know that they're i've such a diverse group there's kids that are um that have a lot of

00:20:39.160 heart that may not have the physical natural ability off the top but their heart makes up for it and then

00:20:44.640 and then they're they're super quiet or i have kids that are that love to talk and they ask questions and

00:20:49.180 they're super analytical and they learn through the talking and that connection um some just physically

00:20:55.000 have to do it they don't say much they're quite shy but and they're super talented and they go and they

00:21:00.260 do it i just tell them once and they go and do it it's amazing to see all of that uh in there and

00:21:05.800 and i was uh a tear come to my eye because i was away for a few months and you know the rinks have

00:21:10.940 been closed and i have all the dads writing me and moms writing me saying hey when are you back you

00:21:15.180 know uh so and so misses you they miss training with you like that that you know that that pokes me

00:21:20.680 right in the right in the center because it means that um they love the teaching and that one-on-one and

00:21:26.220 and i know what it's like i i always like working one-on-one not in big groups and being in an

00:21:32.360 individual sport so working with a hockey player that's in a team sport but working with them

00:21:38.240 individually it it helps them give them the confidence so that when they go and skate with

00:21:43.820 their peers they can feel more confident in what they're doing and and i help them show what's

00:21:49.140 already there not really it's not so much like i like i wrote my um uh the girl that i work with the

00:21:55.380 equestrian rider and she says yeah hey i got some questions for you on my next session um it'd be

00:22:00.700 great to go through some things i like i love how you fix things and i said well i'm not really fixing

00:22:05.260 anything i'm just showing you what's already there and i'm just enhancing what you the skills you

00:22:11.040 already have we're just honing what's there i want to show you what you already have and once you have

00:22:14.920 that you'll understand that's where confidence comes from and um you know with without that and with

00:22:20.700 those venues being closed and that that disconnect it is it is hard it is really really hard so in

00:22:27.180 the meantime i've been trying to do my best uh along the way through all of this i gotta ask you this

00:22:31.680 question elvis stoico arena in richmond hill i i know that's a city of richmond hill facility do you

00:22:37.280 do any of the teaching there or do you ever do you ever show up at that arena i don't know how it

00:22:41.000 works but that would just be so cool for a kid to uh to be with you at elvis stoico arena yeah people

00:22:46.960 you know kids are like oh my god that's your rink you own that i'm like i don't own the rink

00:22:50.020 but my name is on it so what happens is there there's a figure skating school that i'll skate

00:22:57.540 at called rtc richmond training center and um that's in richmond hill as well but at another

00:23:02.360 rink there's like four or five rinks in the area and um we train at a newer facility uh has a larger

00:23:10.160 rink uh more space and it's a double pad so it's only and it's only like maybe a 10 minute drive

00:23:15.480 but there are times where when i'm i'm booking ice if i need some private ice or whatever and

00:23:20.140 they put me at elvis stoico arena that's cool and i've done some and i've done some teaching

00:23:23.660 there so it's actually kind of cool so you know kids will be like hey let's take a picture of me

00:23:27.420 in front of the rink with them with the name of the elvis stoico arena in the back which is actually

00:23:31.500 kind of a cool little thing too so it's fun and i have a lot of dads hey man i i play hockey there

00:23:36.540 at your rink and i'm like well it's not my rink it's just my name it's just my name on it

00:23:40.120 that's awesome we'll be back in just a moment with more full comment with elvis stoico

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00:24:40.800 of course one of the big issues that's being discussed in the sports world right now

00:24:47.820 the 2022 beijing games the winter olympics coming up elvis what do you think about when you think

00:24:54.440 about the beijing games because there's so much going on right now in terms of as we discussed

00:24:58.200 athletes who are saying you know i haven't had as much time as i've wanted to or trying to

00:25:02.100 navigate the various issues and of course the politics of going to china right now where

00:25:05.920 well canada is doing i guess what they call a diplomatic boycott as are many other western

00:25:11.300 nations there must be so much pressure for these athletes right now oh right now i can't imagine

00:25:17.840 like what's what's going through their minds um you know the diplomatic boycotting the the the

00:25:25.900 the controversy um simply athletes going you know what i've basically given up my whole life

00:25:32.860 sacrificed everything to get to this point and you know some some may have a shot at winning they might

00:25:39.180 be metal contention that was their dream and now because of training or lack of training or through

00:25:46.620 the political realm of it all uh just i there's so many pieces to this i have no idea like there's you

00:25:55.000 i can just sit back and watch all i can say is i'm glad i don't have to make a decision and that i'm

00:26:00.680 not involved in it because right now it's so hard like just some of the athletes i've worked with

00:26:04.960 leading up the last two years just trying to get to nationals and maybe get on the team just simply

00:26:12.400 keeping them motivated was so hard like so hard you know and and uh and then now now after just

00:26:22.280 getting okay we're gonna make it we're gonna get to the olympics they made me make the team now there's

00:26:27.180 more stuff to deal with now there's the political realm of it all and the boycotting and that we're

00:26:32.920 gonna go now we're not gonna go because of this and oh my gosh it just i i wish it was a world where

00:26:39.540 things were just simpler it was just about the games and just just competing well i think the question

00:26:44.200 that all the athletes are probably asked first of all whenever they're in an interview in a

00:26:48.120 conversation with someone is should we be boycotting these games what do you think of that question and

00:26:53.480 what do you think of the fairness of asking that question to athletes uh it's a really hard question

00:26:58.500 to ask them to put them in that spot it's it's really really hard i know some will be able to talk

00:27:03.880 about it more others will be quiet because they just don't want to get involved in all the politics

00:27:08.540 of it all um you know and and pointing fingers and saying this and that and uh it's so hard it's

00:27:17.660 such a difficult place to to um uh to be put in you know to be placed in and you know because you

00:27:25.820 know there are athletes that are looked at as as uh role models and there's some athletes that are

00:27:30.580 like i just want to compete i'm not a role model i just want to do my thing i just i started this

00:27:34.680 because i love doing it and now all of this is is coming to be right and and part of part of it is

00:27:40.740 like you know you don't want to feel selfish either because it's all about you know as an athlete you

00:27:45.460 are self-centered it's just it's just that way because you have to be in order to be the best you

00:27:49.600 have to you have to focus you have to put everything aside and it's hard and and it's it's a difficult um

00:27:55.400 it's a difficult uh road uh on every level from the mental physical the spiritual all of that 0.96

00:28:01.920 involved and then this covid and country versus country uh political confrontation just it sucks

00:28:10.660 that the the olympics have to be um thrown into that mix i know there's also personal considerations

00:28:17.160 that people are facing in terms of well i'll read a headline to you that i have in front of me here

00:28:20.500 usa advises olympic olympic athletes to use burner phones in china like wow you got to feel a bit of

00:28:27.040 a pressure from that your government's telling you don't bring your own cell phone like elvis did you

00:28:31.580 have any experiences like that like i know you know there's cultural sensitivities to factor into

00:28:35.420 when you're traveling on the other side of the world but this seems to take to a whole new level

00:28:39.260 yeah i know it's a whole new level especially with the whole thing with technology you know

00:28:44.320 people worried about being tracked and what people are saying and oh my gosh like it's just

00:28:49.200 oh it there's so many different things and you're just the athletes are like i just want to enjoy

00:28:55.800 the competition i want to enjoy what the olympics are all about when the whole world comes together

00:29:01.540 and just be there and uh like the like burner phones that just i didn't even hear that i

00:29:08.160 haven't honestly anthony after the last like maybe year and a half of all this covet stuff i've actually

00:29:14.680 disconnected myself from like the media because very wise and i say that as someone in the media

00:29:20.900 i know but it's it's it's it's really hard like i love these shows like what you're doing because this

00:29:26.900 is this is this is different but when you're getting mainstream media stuff and they're just

00:29:31.420 it it's just oh you're just bombarded with it every day it's hard to remove yourself so i just i

00:29:38.280 remove myself from that my wife and i remove ourselves from that energy and we focus on what we can do

00:29:44.500 because we can't change what the media is saying or doing or what the whole world is doing all we

00:29:50.800 can do is work with our own little world and do the best we can and send out the best light energy

00:29:56.380 and positive energy that we can possibly do within our within our circle do we put too much pressure

00:30:02.420 on athletes then to stand up for things particularly this day and age i mean we're simone biles uh talking

00:30:08.680 about mental health but then all the attention she gets maybe even more pressure for that uh colin kaepernick

00:30:14.780 clearly felt passionately about what he did out there uh at the arena but um it became so

00:30:20.960 controversial so many people supported him so many people opposed him he became more of a political

00:30:24.840 figure than an athletic figure i think for him there were you know he signed the night contracts but

00:30:30.200 still he's upset that his playing career didn't go the way he wanted i can use many other examples and

00:30:33.940 i think maybe whatever you think of the issue it's just it's like ratcheted up for athletes now that

00:30:38.620 the the pressures on on everything yeah it's so hard you did it's funny because there's some people

00:30:45.900 that will look to athletes or celebrity or figures for you know we'll just look at them to see what

00:30:52.040 they're going to say and and find out to see what where where the popular opinion is going you know and

00:30:58.480 and and i i i for one you know people will say oh this you're a role model and i never thought of

00:31:02.920 myself as a role model i'm just a guy doing my thing and love what i'm doing because i didn't want to

00:31:07.220 have to be quote unquote try to be politically correct i'd rather i'd rather try to speak my

00:31:14.480 truth um but make sure that i'm because honestly anthony i'll just come out and say it sometimes

00:31:21.340 when i look at it opinions don't mean anything like for me my opinion doesn't mean anything

00:31:26.220 i'm just one guy that has an opinion and i was a figure skater i did my thing and you know that's why

00:31:33.160 i you know if i go on instagram or if i go on somewhere and i'm like throwing my opinion out

00:31:39.240 there but and just throwing it at people it's it doesn't matter it doesn't matter what i think

00:31:44.760 and sometimes it doesn't matter you know i always just tell people doesn't matter what other people

00:31:49.400 think of you it's none of my business what other people think of me um it's just all i can do is try

00:31:54.220 to give the best energy i can out there for the people that i work with people that are around

00:32:00.660 around me um stay positive for my wife um and and try to send that message out the best i can because

00:32:09.380 i do a you know i did create a plot the platform created itself like i was able to become unknown

00:32:15.780 because of what i'm doing um and it's so hard you know when you're you know like some mobiles like

00:32:20.640 that was such a hard place for her to be you know what i mean but you know there's two different

00:32:26.000 two different opinions on it you know as an athlete you're like well the olympics is going to be hard

00:32:29.800 like it's going to be hard it's going to be difficult it's just up to you are you willing

00:32:34.780 to go through all of that you know some are some are like you know what i mentally can't deal with

00:32:40.320 this and i'm going to walk away right but in my opinion like looking at it i would like well make

00:32:47.800 sure you're prepared for that when you're going in like the best way you can because it's going to be

00:32:52.680 difficult when you are going in everyone's rooting for you expecting you to do two amazing things

00:32:58.480 you know that's the pressure of it all that's that's the olympics that's that's being there

00:33:03.360 and elvis you've offered us so many words of wisdom clearly very uh genuine and passionate words this has

00:33:09.380 been a great conversation i thank you for the fantastic conversation and uh and it's great to

00:33:13.980 talk to someone who's uh you know brought home the medals for canada and uh and uh thank you so much

00:33:19.780 oh no anthony i appreciate it um i hope people a message everyone uh tickets are on sale now for

00:33:26.600 stars on ice we're hoping that we can get as many people out to to to uh to see us skate we we'd love

00:33:33.380 to skate for everyone and i know all the skaters are jonesing to to perform again and and uh we love

00:33:38.700 our canadian fans and uh you know we're just excited to to get back out in the spring thanks so much

00:33:44.680 elvis have a great day all right you too anthony full comment is a post media podcast i'm anthony

00:33:51.020 fury this episode was produced by andre prue with theme music by bryce hall kevin liban is the

00:33:56.640 executive producer you can subscribe to full comment on apple podcasts google spotify and amazon music

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Full Comment - January 30, 2022

Olympians competing in the shadow of lockdowns, boycotts and vaccines

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