A star on ice: An Olympic medal fell out of his grasp, but that hasn't stopped Kurt Browning from becoming one of the world's greatest figure skaters. Browning will show why that is tonight at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre

With apologies to playwright Terence Rattigan, a Canadian figure skater has written his own Browning Version.

Kurt Browning's career contradicts the conventional wisdom that Canadian international athletes need to have won an Olympic medal to either validate their careers or make a living in their sport later.

The only thing missing from Browning's resume -- and it's still one of the perplexing things in Canadian sport history -- is the Olympic medal that always just fell out of reach at the Winter Games.

But that can be overlooked when you're the first person to have landed the quadruple jump in competition, won four world championships and three world pro championships, skated for the Queen in the Golden Jubilee, starred in five TV specials with the likes of Ben Vereen and Tommy Tune, been awarded the Order of Canada and inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and twice been named Canadian male athlete of the year by Canadian Press.

Browning continues to do more than alright and is helping headline the HSBC Stars on Ice, which concludes its 2005 tour tonight at 7 p.m. at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre after playing venues such as the Bell Centre in Montreal, Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Rexall Place in Edmonton, Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary and GM Place in Vancouver.

Yet as successful as Browning has been, the "O" question still pops up. Stars on Ice co-headliners Jamie Sale and David Pelletier and Russian Alexei Yagudin have something Browning never will -- Olympic gold.

"It doesn't bother me," said Browning, as he looked forward to Stars on Ice finally coming to Victoria because of the construction of SOFMC.

"I'm not saying it's not a disappointing aspect of my career and that it wasn't a goal of mine. I do think about it every once in awhile. But it didn't stop me from getting the opportunity to perform later in life."

It sure didn't. Browning is now conceptualizing a TV special for next year, the second with his name above the title and the sixth in which he will have appeared.

"When your name is on it, you want it to be good," said Browning, who turns 39 next month.

But Browning has never been anything but good on the ice. Excellent would be a better term. Even in his 15th year with Stars on Ice, Browning is anything but complacent. In fact, he worries about exceeding his past due date.

"I go back a long way, to the beginnings of the show with the likes of Elizabeth Manley and Brian Orser," Browning noted.

"A lot of money goes into the production and special effects of Stars on Ice and after 15 years I consider it a challenge to still be viable and to have the fans want me to still skate for them."

No problem there. Browning continues to be a crowd pleaser and will remain so until he decides to skate away.

Off-ice activities are consuming more of Browning's time these days -- a 21-month-old son will do that to you. Fatherhood has inspired Browning to tackle children's book writing and he is in the process of penning his first such book. It will, naturally, involve figure skating.

"It's harder than I thought . . . the whole book has to make sense," said Browning, whose choreography indicates he certainly doesn't lack for imagination or creativity.

"But I have no trouble relating at a child's level."

And will little Gabriel follow in his dad's blades?

"Whether it's figure skating or hockey, I want him to skate," said Browning.

"But that's simply because skating is a fun activity and for no other reason."

Browning found his own reasons to skate, first in hockey then in figure skating where his highly athletic programs changed the sport. Tonight, in the latter years of a brilliant life on the ice, he closes out another tour. He does so with another suitcase but not just another town.

The tour usually ends at GM Place but the construction of SOFMC has changed that.

"We traditionally say our special goodbye in Vancouver but it's exciting to be doing that now in a new rink in Victoria," said Browning.