About Me
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A life of inspiration to anyone with a handicap, the loss of a limb, or disfigurement.......
1979 U.S. Junior Ladies Championships 1st
1979 World Junior Championships 1st
1980 U.S. Senior Ladies Championships 4th
1980 World Championships 11th
1980 Skate Canada 1st
1980 Skate Prague 1st
1981 U.S. Senior Ladies Championships 1st
1981 World Championships 2nd
1982 U.S. Senior Ladies Championships 3rd
1982 World Championships 1st
1982 St. Ivel International 1st
1983 U.S. Senior Ladies Championships 2nd
1983 World Championships WD
1984 U.S. Senior Ladies Championships 3rd
1984 Olympic Winter Games 6th
1984 World Championships 3rd
1984 World Professional Championships 2nd
1985 World Professional Championships 4th
1986 World Professional Championships 4th
1987 World Professional Championships 2nd
1988 World Professional Championships 5th
1989 World Professional Championships 4th
1993 Karl Schafer Trophy 13th
1994 Eastern Ladies Championships 2nd
1994 U.S. Senior Ladies Championships 4th
1994 Goodwill Games 8th
Elaine is one of the most popular American figure skaters of all time. She won the United States national title in 1981 and the World title in 1982. Zayak was coached jointly by Peter Burrows and Marylynn Gelderman throughout her amateur and professional career.
Many people don't know that Elaine Zayak suffered from a handicap that would later cost her the Olympic gold Medal, but give so many people the inspiration and courage to follow their dreams no matter what.
At age two, Zayak lost part of her left foot in a lawn mower accident. She began figure skating as physical therapy to learn to walk again, but she kept her injury a secret. Her left boot was stabilized with a wood mold to compensate for the missing toes and half of her left foot.
Mind over matter
Despite her secret handicap, Zayak was the first woman to consistently land several triple jumps in her programs. At the 1982 World Championships, she landed 6 triple jumps to win the title and pull up from a low score in the compulsory figures. Later the world of figure skating changed rules to exclude Elaine from duplicating her triples for fear that skating would become an athletic sport rather then figures. This is known as the Zayak rule.
Compulsory figures were a major part of figure skating at the time and because of her handicap (attributed to her half her foot being severed and lost at an early age) Elaine was held back in 30% of the total scores during her career. But still managed to make a permanent name for herself in the world of figure skating by being one of the most athletic female champions of our time despite rule changes against her.
Although she continued to train fiercely and entered the 1984 Olympics season well prepared, Elaine's handicap kept her from scoring strong enough points in the compulsory figures. The precision of such figure eights were near impossible for her left foot to carve out as perfectly as her right foot. However she performed such incredible and very strong short and free programs, leading to standing ovations at the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo. But was not able to pull up from the lower marks in the compulsory figures to medal. And with the Zayak Rule in place, she was not able to duplicate her athletic ability she had been able to perform prior this event. Some think that the figures were removed from the sport because of her, at the Olympics she was clearly the best jumper and her spins were second to none. Still, Zayak persevered and won the Bronze Medal at the 1984 World Figure Skating Championships, with equally good performances as the ones she displayed in Sarajevo. During this time, her handicap was made public, and the world was touched even further by one of the most talented and humble athletes of all times.
Some say that if Elaine had made her handicap known from the start of her career, the Zayak rule may not have been put in place, and she would have won the Olympics. However, Elaine did not want her handicap to define her in anyway shape or form, so she kept this disfigurement private until she felt it would be an inspiration to people who have suffered similar loss.
If the current system used to score figure skaters was in place when Elaine skated, she would have been the one to beat.
Zayak turned professional in 1984. She competed and toured professionally for a number of years. And fans came near and far to see their American sweetheart land her famous triple jumps.
In 1993, Zayak was the only U.S. female singles skater to reinstate to eligible status. Members of the skating community were elated with her skating performance, which included difficult triple jumps she had not completed in a decade. She was named an alternate for the Olympic Games.
She is now married to her husband, John, and is the mother of their son, Jack. She teaches figure skating at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey, and is spokeswoman for the United States Figure Skating Association.
Zayak was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2003 and the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. And is still revered as one of the most athletic woman to changed the face of figure skating.
