Canuck figure skaters lose edge

Your humble, marble-mouthed servant was in the process of mangling his opening question when Kurt Browning interrupted. "It's all anyone ever wants to talk about," Browning said. "Every interview, it's: 'Is skating dead in Canada?' "

"Well, yeah," I responded, "that's another way to put it. Though I wasn't really thinking 'dead.' Just sleeping."

But Browning already had taken the ball and was running down field, the bowl of soup in front of him forgotten.

"We got spoiled for a long time," he said. "Liz Manley, Rob McCall and Tracey Wilson, Brian Orser, then Elvis (Stojko); I was there and Josee (Chouinard) was up there; then Shae-Lynn (Bourne) won worlds and Jamie (Sale) and David (Pelletier) won worlds.

"We were spoiled. Canada was a powerhouse and now we're not. We're not. So, yeah, it's just like Canadian hockey: 'Why aren't we winning? Why aren't we winning? Why aren't we ...'

"I don't have that answer."

For the first time in 23 years, no Canadian won a medal at this year's world championships, a jarring result not only for Skate Canada but for Canadians in general.

With an eye toward the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010, Skate Canada recently announced a reorganization, folding nine departments into six divisions, shedding six employees in the process.

"We are moving forward with an organizational plan that will lead to success when the Olympics come to Canada in 2010," said Pam Coburn, executive director of Skate Canada. "We are confident that this new approach will foster an environment committed to accomplishing Skate Canada's long-term plan, leading to sustainable membership and financial growth and strong international results in the year 2010, and beyond."

The goals include four Canadian medals in 2006 (world championships and Olympics, combined) and four medals in Vancouver in 2010.

Browning and some of the people he just mentioned are the headliners at tonight's Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate 4 at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum. It's a music and skating show featuring Jann Arden and Michael Bolton.

Whatever measures Canada takes to reassert itself on the world stage, Browning believes the job is only going to get more and more difficult.

"Another thing that's happening right now is that countries such as Korea, Japan, China, like they did in the summer Olympics, are really figuring it out. You go to a rink and see the little girls on the ice. Three of them are good and two of them are Asian. I don't know what it is. They're just good.

"When we were winning, the world was a little smaller and now that these other countries are getting better, it's getting harder to win."

On the positive side, savvy skaters, like Orser and Jennifer Robinson, believe the new ISU judging criteria will be good for Canadians.

"The new system is very Canadian-skater friendly," Orser said. "Most of the Canadians are very well trained in actual skating skills and that's what they're judging now. They're still judging the tricks but it's how they're getting in to the tricks, how they're getting out of the tricks. It's a lot more about fundamentals, where we are strong.

"Now in skating, it's not as if you have to wait out your four years to make it to the top. There are a lot of kids who come in and make an impression right away. Under the new judging system, an unknown can come in and win. I don't think that was possible before. What's more, some great skaters can end up in 10th place."

It isn't as if 2003 was a write-off. We won 66 international medals at the junior level, 17 more than in 2002, which bodes well for the future. Joanne Rochette came out of no where to place eighth in women's singles at the worlds. The mercurial Emanuel Sandhu is ranked fourth in the world in men's singles. Annabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto are ranked fifth in pairs while Marie-France Dubreil and Patrice Lauzon are ranked sixth in dance.