Jozef Sabovčík started figure skating at the age of seven at the request of his grandmother. Sabovčík later said that he owed much of his success to his grandmother. During his amateur career, Sabovčik was six-time national champion of Czechoslovakia from 1979 to 1984 and two-time European champion in 1985 and 1986 . He also won the bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games behind Scott Hamilton and Brian Orser . Sabovčík was trained by Agnesa Búřilová .
Sabovčík was a great jumping talent, which is why he was nicknamed " Jumping Joe ". In 1986 he ended his amateur career due to health problems and worked as a trainer first in Germany and later in Toronto ( Canada ). There he met the Canadian figure skater Toller Cranston , who got him to perform on the ice again himself. He improved his artistic expression and learned the backflip, which he landed on one foot, making him the first man in the world. Later Sabovčík became world champion of professional figure skaters and appeared in various television shows.
In 1999, he was second married to Jennifer Verili. He has two sons. Sabovčík is fluent in English, Slovak, Czech, German and Russian. He now has both Slovak and Canadian citizenship. Despite the division of his homeland, Sabovčík continues to consider himself a Czechoslovak.
Czechoslovakia
