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Kurt Browning surrenders to 'pull of the ice'
Former world figure skating champ still enjoys performing at age 44
| Source: |
Edmonton Journal |
| Date: |
May 24, 2011 |
| Author: |
Chris O'Leary |
EDMONTON — Skating on a dimly lit sheet of ice at the Royal Glenora
Club on Thursday, Kurt Browning was back where he first hit the big
time.
It's been 18 years since Browning has called the river valley sports
complex his home rink and, in that time, a chapter or three have been
written in the pages of the story of his life.
Since his days in Edmonton, Browning has become a husband, father and,
in many respects, the ambassador of figure skating in Canada.
It's been 17 years since his amateur career came to a close in
Lillehammer at the 1994 Olympics, but his name still carries a cache
that generates a special kind of excitement in the world of figure
skating.
While his 45th birthday will catch up to him on June 18, Browning is
likely to remain a fixture in the sport, the same way that Gordie Howe
is still Mr. Hockey or that Bill Russell is the unofficial grandfather
of the NBA.
Browning, who was in town to participate in Ice Memories, the figure
skating show held during the weekend to help celebrate the Royal
Glenora's 50th anniversary, said the club was the launching point for
the quadruple toe-loop jump that made the world take notice of
him.
"When I first started working on the it, you could tell this could
really be something," he said, describing a standout memory of his
Edmonton days. "But I (practised) it late at night when no one was
watching because I didn't want to be embarrassed."
The practice paid off in Budapest, Hungary, in 1988 when he became the
first to land a quad jump at the world championships. Four world
titles, four Canadian championships and three Olympic appearances made
him a legend as an amateur. His 21-year professional career and
numerous TV roles with the sport have taken him to another skating
stratosphere.
After skating off the Glenora ice on Thursday, Browning sat poolside
and reminisced on late-night hi-jinx with fellow rising skaters
Michael Slipchuk and Kristi Yamaguchi. The weekend felt like a high
school or university reunion, he said.
"We tried not to (grow up), but we did. Some have done better than
others at it; they're still children. (Some of them) never lost their
spirit and intensity and ability to love life every day. That's part
of what made everybody special," he said.
What makes Browning special is his passion for skating at this point
in his life. He said he'd only seriously considered retirement once
since turning pro.
"The only blip on the radar was 2006, 2007. I wasn't skating well, I
was struggling with even the simpler jumps and I wasn't motivated. I
think it was mostly my dad was passing away," Browning said of his
father Dewey, who succumbed to cancer in 2008. "It was a hard time. I
just didn't want to do it. And my knee was a mess. I got knee surgery
and I was kind of thinking of quitting."
Through the surgery/rehab process, Browning found he still had the
ability to skate well.
While family life beckons, he said he feels there's more work left to
do on the ice first.
"I know I could quit tomorrow. I've got two kids that I haven't spent
enough time with and a beautiful wife at home and I'd love to be there
more," he said, mentioning his daughters Gabriel, 7, and Dillon, 3,
and wife, Sonia Rodriguez.
"But my job is to be on the road, doing shows all over the world. If I
ever quit, it'll be the pull of my family is stronger than the pull of
the ice."
For the time being, the pull of the ice is as powerful for Browning as
it's ever been. After landing a difficult jump in his practice on
Thursday, with no more than three sets of eyes on him, he threw a
non-descript fist pump. Browning the entertainer was very present,
even when he was in street clothes and the music was in rehearsal
itself, cutting in and out while he and his peers of old worked their
way through segments of their respective routines.
"The logical answer is that this is my job. This is what I do for a
living and I love my job," he said of what's keeping an accomplished
44-year-old this involved.
"The romantic answer is the entertaining people. I'm addicted. I like
the thrill of finishing and knowing that you did something good for
those people.
"They bought a ticket, they organized their day, they got a
babysitter, who knows what they did, but they put enough faith in not
necessarily me, because I'm never alone in the show, but in the show
to do that.
"Your job is to thank them with your best and, when that happens, and
there's this synergy between you and the audience, I'm addicted to
that, I love it."
Browning said he's just thankful to be interesting enough after all of
this time with a touring group of skaters.
"It's hard after all of these years — 21 years of Stars On Ice — to
buy into something about this old body or this bald head or whatever,
to make people not sit there and go, 'He's had a good run. Maybe it's
time.' "
Unsure of when that time comes, Browning seems happy with the
present. It was near 5:30 p.m. in Edmonton when Browning stood up from
the poolside table to call his girls before bedtime.
The legend still look sharp — and had fun — as he worked on his craft
in private.
"Good," he said as he pulled his iPhone out of his pocket. "I'll try
and keep it that way."
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