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Browning set to bid farewell to the Memorial Centre with one last Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice goes Tuesday night
| Source: |
Victoria Times Colonist |
| Date: |
May 15, 2023 |
| Author: |
Cleve Dheensaw |
After countless axels, lutzs, flips, loops Salchows, and even a quad
or two for old times sake, Kurt Browning will make his final career
appearance at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tonight in Stars on
Ice.
“It’s hitting me harder than I thought it would,” said the four-time
world champion.
“But I am making peace with my emotions.”
Victoria is the penultimate stop on the Canadian portion of the 2023
tour, which Browning has announced will be his last after 30
years. The final bow takes place Thursday at Rogers Arena in
Vancouver.
“What is padding my emotions in B.C. is that we have eight more shows
in the U.S.,” said Browning.
“But the reaction to me in the U.S. is not the same.”
That’s because he was the first in a line of iconic modern Canadian
male skaters, which went on to include Olympic-medallists Brian Orser,
Elvis Stojko and Patrick Chan.
It’s Browning, 56, who arguably holds the most special place in
Canadian sporting hearts among that group that help popularize and
re-energize skating in this country.
“I know I will miss it, especially when who you are professionally for
so long has been as a performer,” said Browning.
But in typical Browning fashion, he deflected the attention to others:
“We have an exciting show again this year with so many different
aspects. This is more than about an old guy leaving.”
Two-time Olympic silver-medallist Stojko and Olympic gold-medallist
Chan, always popular, are on the roster along with American
Olympic-medallist Jason Brown and world champions and 2022 Beijing
Winter Olympic silver-medallists Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier of
the U.S. Joining them, among others, are world championship
bronze-medallists and Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
“We’ve always relished coming to Victoria near the end of our tour,
because of the city itself,” said Browning.
The show routines are set, of course, from stop to stop but it was
never a grind over three decades because no two performances are ever
exactly the same.
“Every show is the same, yet every show is different,” said
Browning. “That is the beauty of performing.”
And it’s something Browning took to a high physical art form.
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