Background
Zayak was born and raised in Paramus, New Jersey.
Zayak was born and raised in Paramus, New Jersey.
She competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics, placing 6th. Zayak was coached jointly by Peter Burrows and Marylynn Gelderman throughout her amateur and professional career. The next season, she began competing on the senior international level
Zayak stood atop the podium at the 1979 Skate Canada and Prague Skate and then appeared at her first senior World She was included in the first trip to China by American skaters, in 1980.
Zayak was the first woman to consistently land many triple jumps in her programs. While she also had triple salchows and loops in her repertoire, they were less consistent.
Zayak"s skating contributed to the creation of what became informally known as the Zayak Rule, enacted at the 1982 International Skating Union Congress, which states that a skater may not perform the same kind of triple jump more than twice, and for it to be given full cr on both occasions, one of the two triples must be incorporated into a combination or sequence. The rule encouraged skaters to display a greater variety of skills.
After her World title in 1982, Zayak"s placements suffered from generally poor performances in the then-prevalent compulsory figures (attributed after the fact to her damaged foot).
She took the bronze medal at the 1983 United States. Championships and was sent to the 1983 World Ranked 11th in the middle of the school figures portion, Zayak abruptly withdrew from the competition with just one more tracing to go and flew back to the United States. She attributed her poor figures to a sore, injured ankle and equipment problems. Zayak turned professional later that year and performed with the Ice Capades from 1984 to 1986.
In 1993, Zayak was the only United States. female singles skater to reinstate to eligible status in an attempt to make the 1994 Olympic team
Including triple jumps she had not performed in a decade, she finished 4th at the 1994 United States. Championships and was named an alternate for the Olympic Games. Zayak was inducted into the United States. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2003 and the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
In 2013, she was elected into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. Zayak teaches figure skating at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey, and is a spokeswoman for United States. Figure Skating.
Among her current and former students are Joelle Forte and Amelia Xu.