Question about Orser/Browning/Stojko

This is the kind of thing I would usually look up myself, but quite frankly I don't feel like wading through who knows how many sites to try and get the answer.


I know that Orser and Browning competeted against either at the Canadians, I also know that Browning and Stojko did the same. However, did all 3 ever compete against either at Canadians? I have no idea what year Stojko went from junior to senior level; if he became a senior by the 88 Canadians, it is possible. I first heard of him I think in 90 when he was already a senior, but I don't know how long he'd been kicking around before then (I never paid attention to the Canadians back then). [By which I am referring to the Canadian Nationals, not the Canadian SKATERS. ]

Great Questions!!!! Brian, Elvis and Kurt are all elitist in Canadian Figure Skating history. They all contributed to the great Canadian male figure skating history. Each has his own unique style. Of course, Elvis is the great jumper of all three, although Brian became known as "Mr. Triple Axle" and Kurt made history by landing the first official quad in competition. Kurt and Brian are both artistic skaters, but Elvis holds his own as a great athlete and competitor.

To answer your questions here are some web sites for each:

Brian Orser:
http://www.canadianexcellence.com/

Kurt Browning:
http://www.kurtfiles.com/

Elvis Stojko:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/luckiest1/

Also Check out Skate Canada Hall of Fame:

http://www.skatecanada.ca/en/news_views/photo_gallery/gallery.cfm?comp_id=3&StartRecord=13

No Brian, never competed against Elvis. By the time Elvis made it to the Senior level, Brian had left the amateur ranks. Elvis was the Canadian jr. champion when Brian was competing at the 88 Olympics. Kurt always says Elvis was his greatest challenge when he hit the senior rank. Kurt and Elvis had a "friendly" rivalry.

I have a great respect and admiration for all three of these skaters. I have had the privilege of seeing them skate live at various events. It's been a thrill. I am now looking forward to my first live glimpse of another great Canadian male skater - Jeff Buttle, as I am going to see Stars on Ice in May in Vancouver. It's going to be a real treat seeing both Kurt Browning and Jeff Buttle in the same show.

I hope this information will help. Thanks for the great post.

Ladskater, thanks for those great links and also the info. I had a feeling you'd be one of the ones most likely to know the answer! Gee, if only Elvis had been born one year earlier -- it'd be great to look back at the 88 Canadians and realize that 3 "generations" of great skaters had once competed all together at one national competition.

Just as a miscellaneous trivia note: On this side of the border, we actually did kind of have a case like that at the 84 US Nationals, with Scott Hamilton winning, Boitano second, and Paul Wylie 4th. Granted, Wylie was technically more in the same "generation" as Boitano, but still -- it's fun to look back years later and see results like that.

I can't speak for the Canadian Nationals, since we don't get them down here in Philly , but I do remember seeing Brian O., Elvis, and Kurt competing in the Canadian Open (circa 2000?). What a treat to see three great Canadian legends compete in the same event! IIRC, Todd won the event (hey, I'm not trying to spoil the Canadian arty: as I love watching all four guys). Please correct me on the chronology just in case I've got the wrong year. I do believe it was in December 2000, but it may have been in December 1999. :scratch:

Oh, one other thing. Was this the competition when Kurt's IF program was too short (he got a time deduction for that & there was quite a controversy over it)?

iluvtodd said:

I can't speak for the Canadian Nationals, since we don't get them down here in Philly , but I do remember seeing Brian O., Elvis, and Kurt competing in the Canadian Open (circa 2000?). What a treat to see three great Canadian legends compete in the same event! IIRC, Todd won the event (hey, I'm not trying to spoil the Canadian arty: as I love watching all four guys). Please correct me on the chronology just in case I've got the wrong year. I do believe it was in December 200, but it may have been in December 1999. :scratch:

Oh, one other thing. Was this the competition when Kurt's IF program was too short (he got a deduction for that)?

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I think Brian, Elvis and Kurt did compete in one professional competition. I have also seen them skate together in a show. I remember them skating around together after the show and doing a group axle together - it was AWESOME!

Ladskater said:

I think Brian, Elvis and Kurt did compete in one professional competition. I have also seen them skate together in a show. I remember them skating around together after the show and doing a group axle together - it was AWESOME!

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I remember something similar to this in the warmup for the Pairs Short at the Vancouver Worlds in '01. Sargent/Wirtz and Sale/Pelletier skated towards each other, and as they passed each other, in perfect synchronization, both pairs did flawless side by side doubles of some sort. Too cool!!

Kurt, Elvis, and Brian competed together at more than one Canadian Open:

At the 2001 Canadian Open, Brian beat a field consisting of Emanuel Sandhu (2nd), Kurt Browning (3rd), Elvis Stojko (4th), Todd Eldredge (5th), and Steven Cousins (6th). IIRC, that's the competition where he revived his 3-axel and skated two impeccable programs.

At the 1999 Canadian Open, as has already been mentioned, Todd won, Elvis was second, Brian third, and Kurt fourth. And yup that was where Kurt's Play That Funky Music came in a good, what was it, 35 seconds short? And gave him a huge point penalty in his artistic program.

Kurt, Elvis and Brian have performed together at Gotta Skate and Celebration on Ice, and they're always fun together. They had one group number that they did at Gotta Skate in 2004 (and I think also in Celebration on Ice) which was particularly fun b/c it was a "anything you can do, I can do better" type number where each would do a footwork sequence which the others would try to follow. They looked like they had a ton of fun performing together.

Thanks for clarifying all of that, Teenes!