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Chan chooses Chan
While Kurt Browning has high expectations for Toronto teen, he has plenty of his own
| Source: |
Edmonton Sun |
| Date: |
January 18, 2008 |
| Author: |
Terry Jones |
VANCOUVER -- Kurt Browning thinks the world of the kid. He thinks
Patrick Chan will become the man to take Canada back to the top of the
world again.
"He's the best bet right now. If you're looking for somebody to do it,
he's the guy you look to," said Browning.
Chan, who turned 17 on New Year's Eve, sat here yesterday in a candid
one-on-one interview and made one whale of a statement.
"My goal is to make skating rise again in Canada. I'm hoping I'm the
beginning of a new era.
"I'm hoping I'm the one who will bring skating back to where it was
when I was a kid watching on TV.
"I know people are waiting on their couches for the next Kurt
Browning," he said.
"That's just unbelievable that a 17-year-old kid says that," said
Browning.
"That's why I like him so much. There's something about him. You're
drawn to this guy. Some people just have that ability to make you want
to care about them. He has the attitude that if he does the work, he's
going to get better."
Browning, the four-time world champion who is still at the top of the
pro show skating world, trains with Chan ("when I train") at the
Granite in Toronto.
Chan, he says, actually draws him to the rink. "We have double Axel
competitions. That's the best I can do anymore.
"I thought he was special two years ago. I'm not just watching him
skating, it's training with him.
"He has such an irresistible combination of innocence and joy. He has
a constant smile. You never see him get too angry or too frustrated. I
love his attitude.
"He's very, very low key. It's not so different than I used to
approach it, that I have to skate well to win. His personality is
untroubled. I'd be surprised if he didn't win the Canadian crown
someday soon. It could be even this year."
Today Chan will skate the short program at the Canadian Figure Skating
Championships at the Olympic venue here. And he knows, with Canada
only having two spots for the world championships, how important it
is.
"Looking at 2010, this is a must. It's the most important competition
of my life. This time, it's very important that I make it to the
Worlds. I don't want to go just once, next year, before going to the
Olympics."
Chan won silver at the world junior in Oberstdorf, Germany last
season, the highest finish for a Canadian man since 1984. This year he
won the Grand Prix event in Paris and was third at Skate America to
make the Grand Prix final.
"Things changed very quickly for me this season. It actually worries
me that they've gone too well. But (yesterday's) practice went
great. But I know I'm going to be nervous because this means so
much. I go to bed every night dreaming about the Olympics in
Vancouver."
Browning was 21 when he went to the Olympics in Calgary in 1988 and
had a stunning eighth place finish, went to Worlds in Budapest the
next year and became the first to land the quad in competition and
then won his first Worlds the following year in Paris.
"It's great to have him around," said Chan.
"Anytime he's at the rink, it's awesome. He gives me tips. And he
tells me a lot of stories. He jokes around a lot. If I'm in a bad
mood, he cures that just being there and being Kurt. And to say what
he said about me is major motivation."
It's tough to imagine a much better figure skating story than
Browning's, the son of an outfitter and mountain guide from Caroline,
but Chan is interesting enough.
His parents, Karen and Lewis, were both born in China and met each
other at a table tennis tournament in Montreal. He started skating at
the age five in Ottawa.
"I wanted to play hockey but my mom wanted me to try figure skating
first," he said.
When they moved to Toronto, Chan stayed with the sport.
Spend a half hour with this kid and it doesn't seem like there's much
Chinese in him.
"I use chopsticks. I love Chinese food," he laughs. "When I was a
little kid my mom spoke to me in Mandarin and my dad spoke to me in
French. The last language I learned was English. I'm proud to be
Chinese."
Interesting young man and definitely the man to follow in figure
skating in Canada for the future. The question is if the future will
be now.
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