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Wednesday, April 7, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D1 They beat the best The Oakville Rangers triple-A atom rep team didn't get the result they were after in their third con­ secutive appearance at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Tournament of Champions. The Rangers could only manage one win in four games. But that one win, (S e e 'Atom s' pag e D 3) PHILTHY'S SPOTLIGHT: the Oakville Rangers triple-A atom rep team already have next year's goal formulated -- getting back to their fourth consecutive Tournament of Champions. BACK ROW: Thomas Karthaus, Conor Kelly, Michael Galbraith, Ryan Badham, Bryan Carey and Eric Murray. MIDDLE ROW: Brian Kelly (head coach), Barry Pickell (asst, coach), John Davitsky, Chris Hunt, Craig Speers, Zack Shepley, Corey Martin, Frank Sobrinho (trainer). FRONT ROW: Marc-Thomas Nano, Stephen Wheeler, Michael Maganja, James Albrecht and Russell Brownell. ABSENT FROM PHOTO: Brett Shepley (asst coach). - P h ilth y 's Spotlight Teams receive a $50 g ift certificate The Jelineks: what a pair The Oakville Sports Hall o f Fame recently cele­ brated its inaugural induction dinner and the actual hall is soon to open at the River Oaks Rec Centre. The inaugural members are Donovan Bailey, Sandra Post, Vic Hadfield and Maria and Otto Jelinek. The Oakville Beaver is running feature sto­ ries on all o f the honoured inductees, and today's installment takes a look at Canada's most successful pairs team ... MARIA AND OTTO JELINEK. By Kathy Yanchus • SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER W hen Maria and Otto Jelinek won the World Figure Skating Pairs Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1962, there was more than a title at stake. Their much anticipated, electrifying perfor­ mance before a frenzied full house of supporters, was executed against a backdrop of politics. To fail to come out on top would have meant more than just losing the championship. The two young skaters had fled with their fami­ ly from communist Czechoslovakia in 1948, coura­ geously returning to the country of their birth 14 years later as Canadian champs to compete, with a promise of safe return they hoped was honored. Their supportive parents, rinkside for all of their competitions, stayed behind, terrified for their own safety and anxious for their children's. It was East vs West, communism vs democracy. 'They're our people and they're totally on our side," Otto is quoted as whispering when the pair stepped on the ice to thunderous applause, in the book On Thin Ice written by his brother, Henry Jelinek Jr. The pressure to win for "our people" fuelled the Jelineks' already intense competitiveness and the results went down as one of the most memorable moments in figure skating history. Almost 40 years later, Maria Jelinek remembers the event vividly. "The worst part is when I start counting, I can't believe it. .1 don't want to think it was that long ago." Trim and fit at 56, Maria, the mother of three young men, the youngest in his last year of high school, is now a travel counselor allowing her the opportunity to pursue her passion of exploring the world. Her life is is far removed from skating but that historic event is forever imbedded in her mind. Although she is no longer in the spotlight, the ado­ ration of the Jelineks' fans has never waned, their greatness immortalized by the sporting world with membership in both the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Their names flow easily off the lips of young new skaters and they are still called upon to attend special events and receive honors such as February's induction into the Oakville Sports Hall of Fame. Their victory in the place of their birth, a coun­ try which proved a source of happiness and pain, is not something Maria dwells on but it is still a vibrant memory. "It was exciting to do it in our place of birth, to win it. We skated to Czech music. It was such a supportive audience. Both Otto and I think we could have won the worlds another 20 times and it would never have been as exciting as that. It was the end of our amateur career and it was an excit­ ing way to do it." Considering all that they overcame prior to their stunning victory makes the event that much more remarkable. There were ominous overtones from the beginning. In order to compete in the worlds, the Jelineks had to win the North American Figure Skating Championships being held in Philadelphia in 1961. Twenty-four hours before their scheduled appear­ ance, the Jelineks suffered horrible injuries in a tragic practice fall. Otto was left unconscious and Maria with a gash in her right thigh when her brother lost his balance, fell backwards hitting his head on the ice and Maria landed on top of him. Against the doctor's stem warnings, the pair com­ peted the next day and not only earned the critical first place standing, but the hearts of all who watched. The World Figure Skating Championships, ini­ tially scheduled for that year, were then cancelled due to the tragic deaths of the entire American team in a plane crash. "We were supposed to be on that plane and as far as my mother was concerned we were on that flight. That was the way it had been left." Both Canadian and American competitors all Maria and Otto Jelinek in their heyday as world pairs champions, and at February's inaugural Oakville Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner. flew to New York to connect with their flights to Prague. Because they were all friends the Jelineks wished to travel on the same plane as the Americans, but at the last minute their coach changed their flight. "He said, 'You are Canadians you should travel with the Canadian team.' He saved our lives," says Maria. A phone call from a journalist told the Jelineks' parents that their plane had crashed and it wasn't until many hours had passed that the senior Jelineks were assured of their children's safe arrival. "When we arrived in Prague some people came to meet us and I started crying. Everyone thought we were going to be taken away and that's why I was crying. But I had just been told about the plane crash. We skated in Europe in memory of the American team. It broke the ice for the return to Czechoslovakia the following year." They continued to practice and train for another year and enjoyed a triumphant return to Oakville as World Champions in '62. Timing is everything and with tongue firmly in cheek Maria says she and her brother "missed the boat" skating in the wrong era when athletes weren't financially compensated to the extreme degree they are today. "As amateurs we couldn't take any money." Contracts which seemed like a lot of money at that time pale in comparison to today's multi-million dollar contracts, she says. As their amateur career came to an end, Maria was ready to get on with her life. After all, she had been skating since she was four. She yearned to return to school, get married, start a family. Her dreams had been put on hold when a coach her par­ ents hired to teach her older brothers to figure skate, realized the potential of Otto and Maria -- skating together at the age of 6 and 4 respectively, to hold each other up -- and destined them to ful­ fill their parents vision of having a child in the win­ ter Olympics. Maria was ready to leave skating behind, but Otto, the showman, the entertainer, wanted to continue on a professional basis. Otto won out and the Jelineks skated in the Ice Capades for six years. It was a steady diet of travel, interviews, prac­ tice, two and three shows a day and rubbing elbows with celebrities. "My dream was to be an interpreter with the United Nations. I wanted to go back to school." Jelinek had already studied French fora year in France and learned German while training in Switzerland. Because she felt she was getting a late start due to an all-consuming skating devotion, Maria never realized that particular dream. Instead, she pursued her interest in fashion opening a bou­ tique in Toronto. She married -- she is since divorced -- and began a family. She remained in skating for many years as a professional judge and still keeps in touch with skating friends like Barbara Ann Scott and Donald Jackson, all of whom reunited March 2nd for the Legends in Toronto. Maria can also be found as a spectator for many national and world championships. As a member of two prestigious halls of fame, she is invited back each year to meet new inductees. For a time she also taught through the Oakville Figure Skating Club and the parks and recreation department. As a judge and spectator she is continually amazed at today's skating manoeuvres. "I can't believe what they can do," she says incredulously. "When Donald Jackson won the men's single's in '62, he was the first to land a triple jump in competition. It was quite a big deal. Now they do triple after triple." As exciting as it may be for fans, it has erased the flow from skating. "When we were skating, we knew we could do it 100%. We fell, it happened*.. It's good that they've gone that far but skating has lost that flow, the beauty of flow and edges. It's a little nerve wracking now. In every sport everybody wants to do more, run faster, jump higher..." These days, she rarely dons skates but she's still fiercely competitive particularly with her sons and they in turn have inherited their mother's athleti­ cism. She plays tennis, rollerblades, skis, bikes and does aerobics every day. Despite her early days in the spotlight, Maria has been allowed to live the normal family life she craved. She is still extremely close to her four brothers, the Jelineks having spent Christmas in Prague at the home of her brother Otto, with all siblings hoping to get together again this festive season here in Oakville where two of her brothers still live (the other in Aspen, Colorado). Their induction into the Oakville Hall of Fame is for Jelinek "really special." "It's my family. How often do you get honored by your family. I grew up here. I went to school here. I skated with the Oakville Skating Club. We were often asked to skate for bigger clubs but we always said no. It's great to be honored here and in the first year." She is also enjoying the company she and her brother find themselves in, with golfer Sandra Post and hockey player Vic Hadfield as well as sprinter Donovan Bailey being inducted at the same time. Her parents used to purchase vegetables from the Post farm and "Vic tried to teach me golf. He was a good teacher I was a bad student." "It's very special." File Photo by Ron Kuzyk Carly McMillan was all smiles about making the provincial youth cham­ pionships last year and she has done it again this year. And she won't have to travel far this year, either, as they are being hosted by the Oakville Gymnastics Centre, home of the Antoinettes, at the Glen Abbey Rec Centre May 7-9. Youth provincial cham pionships at Glen Abbey May 7 -9 The Oakville Gymnastics Centre, home of the Antoinettes, is thrilled to have been chosen to host this year's youth provincial championships. They will be held at the Glen Abbey Rec Centre from May 7-9. The Ontario Women's Artistic Youth Championships is the most important gymnastics event of the year for the province's up-and-coming athletes. Provincial and future national level gymnasts aged 9-12 years will compete for the honour of being the top athlete in their age group and competitive cat­ egory. The youth championships were initi­ ated in 1996 in an effort to provide Ontario's young athletes with a positive culmination to their competitive sea­ son. The three-day event allows the young people to get together in a friend­ ly, positive environment where they are the 'stars of the show." The competition is annually held at the beginning of May. The responsibil­ ity of the selected Ontario host is to ensure that each and every gymnast feels like she is participating in a mini- Olympics. These girls train 20 hours per week to achieve the confidence and skill level required to compete in such an event and the goal is to celebrate them. The youth championships has a sis­ ter competition called Elite Ontario which is traditionally held two weeks prior, and is, in essence, Ontario's championship for girls 13 and over. The Oakville Gymnastics Centre, home of the Antoinettes, is an incorpo­ rated non-profit organization operated by a volunteer board of directors. The club offers pre-school, recre­ ational, advanced recreational and com­ petitive programs. The recently adopted name (Oakville Gymnastics Centre) recog­ nizes the over 2,000 members partici­ pating in a variety of programs that also includes trampoline, power tumbling and the ever growing boy's program. Club gymnasts have been represent­ ing Oakville at provincial and national championships for 20 years. Having been chosen to host this year's youth provincial championships, the club is actively seeking corporate and public support. There are many ways to become involved. Corporate sponsorships are avail­ able at a variety of levels. There is also need for other dona­ tions such as T-shirts for staff and ath­ letes, memorabilia for athletes, food and beverages for concession sales and hospitality room, decorations and other appropriate products. To become part of the exciting provincial championships, which are expected to attract upwards of 400 elite young gymnasts from all of Ontario's seven regions, including a sizeable con­ tingent from host Oakville, contact Antoinettes G.M. Wayne Hussey at 847-7747. 1