Browning not surprised quads took so long to become factor

Copyright 1997 the Associated Press. -- All Rights Reserved

It is March 1988, one month after the epic Battle of the Brians at the Calgary Olympics. The final installment of that figure skating drama is playing out at the world championships in Budapest.

In the background behind Brian Boitano and Brian Orser stands Kurt Browning, whose Olympic medals chance will come in four years.

Then, leaping out of the background comes Browning, landing the first quad in competition.

Amazingly, nine years later, the four-revolution jump has not been a major factor in the sport. No worlds or Olympics or even national titles of significance have been decided by the quad.

That could change this week at the Champions Series final, where the best Olympic-eligible men's field since the Lillehammer Olympics is gathered, chock full of qualified quadders.

''I think basically the quad is an attitude,'' said Browning, who won four world championships and currently is performing in Discover Stars on Ice. ''And now the attitude is that it is part of your arsenal and everyone knows, where it was once the secret weapon.

''For years, everyone was trying to get it consistent, but it takes another generation for a jump like that to take hold.''

It apparently has taken hold for two-time world champ Elvis Stojko, who nailed one recently at the Canadian championships in combination. Olympic gold medalist Alexei Urmanov of Russia has hit four quads, but none since 1992, and he didn't try it or need it at Lillehammer. Like Urmanov, countrymen Ilya Kulik and Alexei Yagudin also failed to land quads at the European championships.

Of the top men's contenders this week, only defending world champion Todd Eldredge doesn't do a quad in competition. Eldredge said earlier this month at the U.S. nationals, which he won for the fourth time, that he keeps working on it, but isn't comfortable with the jump yet.

Browning thinks Eldredge would be wise to ignore the quad and concentrate on the things that helped him unseat Stojko at the worlds in Edmonton last March.

''I still think if, say, Todd does absolutely everything, with two or three triples in combination, and he does them in a beautiful program like last year at worlds, the strength of program will still win,'' said Browning, the current world professional champion.

Technically, Stojko is the most accomplished of the six men who made the finals, which are worth $50,000 to the winner down to $5,000 for the sixth-place skater. He has landed four quads, twice doing them in combination, and even is tinkering with a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combo.

But Stojko doesn't have the artistry particularly the spins and footwork to match Eldredge, Kulik or Urmanov, who suddenly has become a force in the sport after indifferent performances in 1995 and '96.

''It is really difficult not to try the quad because the level of technical ability is so high from these guys,'' Browning said. ''There's not always a time in the program to show your skating, it is so much concentrated on all the triple jumps and triples in combination. I remember what that's like; I did it too.''

This week's winner will get an added boost for the world championships in Lausanne on March 17-24. Eldredge seeks to become the first American man to repeat as world titlist since Scott Hamilton finished his run of four straight in 1984.