Where the Stars Come to Play...

Biography:

Jozef began skating at the age of 6 when his grandmother enrolled him in lessons in Bratislava, Slovakia, where he grew up. Jozef, an only child, was raised almost exclusively by his grandmother because his parents were both ballet dancers in Vienna. Under the Czech Communist system Jozef was groomed to compete in the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Along the way he won numerous Czech National Championships and toured with Scott Hamilton and Brian Orser. The three talented skaters became good friends.

In 1986 Jozef landed a quadruple toe loop, the first in competitive skating history. However, the judges said he touched on his landing. Therefore, Kurt Browning was awarded the distinction of landing the first quad in competition at the 1988 World Championships. The 1986 World Championships were the beginning of the end of Jozef’s competitive skating career. He retired from amateur skating soon after the competition because of chronic knee problems that eventually led to four surgeries.

Jozef has been involved in numerous tours since retiring from competition. He is currently involved in his tenth season of the Sun Valley Ice Shows and was a member of the cast of Nancy Kerrigan’s Halloween on Ice from 1996 to 2001 and 2006 as well as Nancy’s Christmas on Ice tour in 1994.  In 1995 and 1998 Jozef was involved in the Elvis Stojko and Friends tour and in 1998 and 1999 he toured with Champions on Ice. Jozef was a featured performer during the opening ceremonies at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in which he played the role of the fire character, meant to portray the fire inside all great athletes.

He currently resides in Bountiful, Utah with his wife Jennifer and two sons, Blade and Jozef Jaden, who was born on July 6, 2003.  He enjoys listening to music, especially rock and roll and heavy medal, reading, and painting.  Jozef speaks multiple languages.  He can speak and write English, Slovak and Czech, and he is fluent in German and Russian.  He also speaks a little Polish and Yugoslavian.  He still trains about 1-2 hours per day, 5-6 days a week to maintain his skating prowess.