When Kurt Browning was Unbeatable
Following Kurt Browning’s second World Figure Skating title in 1990 the Canadian champ was unbeatable.
He won every event he entered in 1990 including the Canadian Figure Skating Championship, the Goodwill Games, Skate Canada and the Nations Cup in Germany.
As a result his status as national hero became even larger.
In December 1990 a panel of journalists selected him to win the Lou Marsh Award which recognizes Canada’s outstanding athlete of the year. He edged out Edmonton Oilers captain Mark Messier and Boston Bruins Defenceman Ray Bourque to take the honour.
Plus Kurt also won the Lionel Conacher award for male athlete of the year which is handed out annually by the Canadian Press.
So heading into the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships in Munich, Germany Kurt should have felt confident that he had a good chance of winning another title. But as heard of the latest episode of History of the 90s, Kurt’s coach told him that might not be the case.
Kurt says that Michael Jiranek told him the Ukrainian skater Viktor Petrenko was going to win.
Despite the extra pressure from his coach Kurt still felt a little bit more calm going into the worlds in 1991 than he had the year before. He no longer felt that he needed to prove he deserved to be there.
In the short program Viktor Petrenko made it clear he was the formidable contender that Kurt’s coach had warned him about and after a near perfect skate Petrenko was ahead in the standings.
But Kurt kept his cool when he took to the ice in Munich to perform his difficult long program in front of an enthusiastic audience that included thousand of Canadian fans
They watched in awe as Kurt turned in one of his best performances ever, despite a midair decision to shorten his quad to a triple toe loop (which Kurt says still bugs him to this day). The rest of the program, including a axel-toe loop combo was near perfection.
His signature grace, speed and musicality pushed him forward and for the third year in a row Kurt Browning was the world champion.
Viktor Petrenko took the silver medal and the bronze went to US Champ Todd Eldridge.
You can listen to the entire episode of History of the 90s featuring Kurt Browning anywhere you stream audio or here.