Wed. January 25, 2006
VICTORIA STAGG ELLIOTT
Age: 36
Hometown: Chicago ( Bucktown )
Sport: Figure skating
High School: Lane Tech, class of 1987.
College: University of Illinois, class of 1992
It’s a Fact: She has competed in stair-climbing competitions to the top of the Sear’s Tower, which takes her about 42 minutes up the 103-story landmark.
It’s Also A Fact: She ran the 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and competed in the 2003 Steelhead Half-Ironman Triathlon in Benton Harbor, Mich.
Quoting Elliott: “I have a coach who kicks my ass on a regular basis, and refuses to believe that I can’t do anything. I have a job that is flexible, meaning, if I have to come in a few minutes late because I’ve been at the rink, it’s not a problem. I also have a podiatrist and a wonderful masseuse. Plus, I go twice a month to a floatation tank to relax and loosen my muscles.”
Victoria Stagg Elliott had basically no sporting blood, so to speak, until age 29 while living in Cambodia.
That’s when the former high school math team member decided to swim across the Mekong River, which normally is about 1,000 yards, but, the way she swam and with strong currents that day, it was more like a 2,000-yard trek.
And so began Elliott’s sporting adventure, one that includes a Gay Games gold medal in Sydney. She’s preparing for the 2006 Games, to be held right here in her hometown, not to mention her home rink, with family and friends cheering her every move.
“When I was living in Cambodia, there basically was nothing to do. So, I trained for a couple of months for that ( swim ) ,” she said. “I was so exhausted and relieved to finish that I didn’t even pay attention to how long it took to do it.”
A few years after mastering the Mekong, Elliott signed up for Sydney, intent on swimming events. But she also agreed to participate in the triathlon, though she first had to figure out how to do one. Elliott sought help from past triathlon competitors, and so began her next sporting adventure.
“Sydney was a blast, an amazing experience,” she said. “That was the event where I sort of became an athlete. When I marched into the stadium for the 2002 Gay Games, I really felt like that was the moment I became an athlete.”
Elliott was no longer the obese couch potato, as she admits. Her 30s are about sporting accomplishments, unlike her 20s when the 5-foot-5 Elliott ballooned to 245 pounds.
“When I moved back to the U.S. in March 2000, I was living with my parents in Evanston. And they lived near an ice rink,” Elliott said. “Well, I wanted to learn something new and be active, so I signed up for a class. All I wanted to do was learn how to skate around the rink; that was my ambition.”
Elliott can skate forwards and backwards, and a little bit of jumping, and a two-foot spin, she said.
Elliott won a figure skating gold medal in Sydney in her skill-level, an Alpha skater.
She has progressed to a Beta skater, the division she will compete in next summer.
“I want another gold, especially because this is my hometown,” she said. “More important, I’m thrilled to have my friends and family at McFetridge ( Ice Rink ) to watch me compete in an international figure skating competition, something that does still seem a bit unreal.”
There were 60 or 70 competitors in Sydney, she said, and more are expected in Chicago.
Elliott is a reporter for the American Medical News, a weekly newspaper for primary care physicians. She writes about public health and science. Plus, Elliott and her roommate, Marc Arendt, have a blog building up to the Gay Games. It’s located at: www.guide2gaygames.com .
Elliott and Arendt have known each other for about four years. They are off-ice friends, naturally, and he serves as her on-ice coach.
Elliott figure skates up to four hours a week at McFetridge and Robert Crown, and also does two or three hours of cardio training per week, including running, swimming or bicycling. “I will be cutting out running very soon in order to save my feet for ice skating,” she said. "I’m also currently in the process of adding a weekly ballet class."
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