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Browning stays loyal to Canada
| Source: |
Edmonton Sun |
| Date: |
March 28, 2009 |
| Author: |
Terry Jones |
LOS ANGELES -- The whispers that Torino 2006 gold-medal winner Evgeny
Plushenko is planning a comeback for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter
Games became a little louder here yesterday.
Canada's Patrick Chan had no sooner made himself a favourite for the
event by winning a silver medal at the World Figure Skating
Championships here than Plushenko made the whispers a little
louder.
Russian coach Alexei Mishin, Sun Media has learned, whispered in the
ear of Canada's four-time world champion Kurt Browning that they
wanted to hire him to help put together programs for Plushenko's
Olympic year.
"I'm not going to do it," said Browning when confronted by Sun Media,
confirming that, yes, he had been asked but then quickly denying he
was going to accept to work on the project.
"I don't think that my being contacted is the story" said Browning. "I
think the story is that I think his comeback seems legit.
"I asked Mishin about Plushenko and he said he talked to him
(yesterday) and he said he landed four quads, two in combination with
triple toe loops. That's legit stuff, if he's doing that."
Browning finds it all fascinating. What would it do to Olympic year
for Chan, the 18-year-old friend he's already mentored into a silver
medal at the Worlds. What would it means going forward for Chan? Not
to mention Brian Joubert and American Evan Lysacek, who won the gold
here Thursday night.
"He's the wrench," said Browning. "Putting Plushenko back in play is
like dropping a wrench in the gears. It could screw everything up. You
just don't know," he said of the Russian who won his first Worlds gold
medal in Vancouver in 2001 and also won gold in 2003 and 2004.
Browning also confirmed that he had previously been asked to sign on
to perform the same service for Joubert this past season but declined,
partially due to jury duty and partially because he doesn't feel it's
fair.
Browning said while he's still busy with a show career, to be taking
on something like that would require at least once-a-month trips
overseas to work with a podium-calibre athlete when plenty of
established professionals are out there.
Asked what he'd make of Plushenko coming back, Chan was fairly
animated yesterday.
"Is he actually?"
He thought about it for a moment.
"Good luck. It's hard. A lot of people have tried," he said of
comebacks.
"It would be exciting. I'd love to compete against him It would be
really interesting," added Chan.
Skate Canada high-performance director Michael Slipchuk said it would
be very interesting indeed.
"A lot has changed between 2006 and 2009. A lot of rules are so
different."
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