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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.6 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Kurt Browning Interview |
Interview Summary / Résumé d'entrevue |
Kurt Browning, Order of Sport recipient, inducted in 1994, born in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, talks about his figure skating career. He describes growing up in a rural area outside Caroline, Alberta, and playing various sports, including ice hockey, baseball, badminton and figure skating. Kurt emphasizes the importance of enjoyment and a positive attitude to succeed in sport. He explains how he practiced the quad jump and discusses the 1988, 1992 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games. He describes how meaningful it was to be the flag bearer in 1994 and his long program in Lillehammer. Kurt also talks about his World Championships in 1989, 1991 and 1993. Kurt describes how figure skating teaches patience and how the changes to judging have eliminated the automatic hierarchy that can occur among international competitors. Kurt talks about the transition from amateur to professional skating and how the pressure differs. Kurt talks about life lessons, what winning and losing teaches you, and how everyone can participate and enjoy sport regardless of competitiveness. He shows the skates he used to complete his first quad jump. Entrevue avec Kurt Browning, 29 septembre 2006. MP4 numérisé à partir d'une DVCAM 40 Advanced ME de Sony. Temps de visionnement : 01:08:06. Kurt Browning, récipiendaire de l'Ordre du sport, a été intronisé en 1994 et est né à Rocky Mountain House, en Alberta. Il parle de sa carrière de patinage artistique. Il décrit son enfance vécue dans une région rurale près de Caroline, en Alberta, où il pratiquait plusieurs sports, notamment le hockey sur glace, le baseball, le badminton et le patinage artistique. Kurt souligne l'importance du plaisir et d'une attitude positive pour réussir dans le sport. Il explique comment il s'est entraîné au saut quadruple et parle des Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 1988, 1992 et 1994. Il décrit combien il était significatif d'être le porte-drapeau en 1994 et parle de son programme libre à Lillehammer. Kurt parle également de ses Championnats du monde en 1989, 1991 et 1993. Il décrit comment le patinage artistique enseigne la patience et comment les changements apportés au système de jugement et de notation ont éliminé la hiérarchie automatique qui peut exister entre les concurrents internationaux. Kurt parle de la transition du patinage amateur au patinage professionnel, remarquant que la pression n'est pas la même. Il parle des leçons de vie, de ce que gagner et perdre nous enseigne, et souligne que tout le monde peut participer et aimer le sport, quel que soit le niveau de compétitivité. Il montre les patins qu'il a utilisés pour réaliser son premier saut quadruple. |
Scope & Content |
Kurt Browning interview, 29 September 2006, digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two tapes with a total viewing time of 01:08:06. 1 of 2: 3:44Childhood - played hockey, everyone figure skated but dropped out, talks about Marvin Trumbull as a local figure skater that he looked up to as a youth. 4:00Why he enjoyed figure skating - social aspect, friends, still played other sports but figure skating gradually became the most important, liked the speed and eventually the jumping (4:51) "to have that much power and still be able to control it" 5:10When did you start to take figure skating seriously - "that hasn't happened yet, I'm still don't know what I'm going to do when I grown up"; happened slowly over time, mentions parents, training, competitions; (6:05) "figure skating was never the most important thing, it was just one of the most important things, and it eventually became everything" 7:54Talks about Canadian championship and the realization that he could win it "after that I realized how powerful the mind really is and a positive attitude going in is everything and the training is useless if you don't carry it on the ice with you"; talks about the difference with Brian Orser being so focussed and for Kurt it was just the farm boy attitude 8:56Did his homework in terms of training but for competition it was the moment that was important, the higher the level of competition, the harder he tried 10:50Went from 15th to 1st in 2 years - timing - talent growth spurt at that time, motivated by his competition, mentions that his environment was very important and training with better skaters such as Michael Slipchuk was motivating 13:11Quad jump - Saw Boitano do a quad and decided he wanted to try it, starting playing with it by himself after the other skaters left the rink, (14:42) "see it in your head, believe you can do it"; talks about having a good base to build on and the next step will come; talks about trying the quad in 1988 at end of his programme and almost landing it and then moving it up to the front of the programme in 1989 18:30Landing the quad in 1989: it was a personal thing to be the first to land the quad, childhood dream to be in the Guinness Book of Records; talks about getting a medal for the quad and it being one of his proudest moments 20:04Judging in figure skating - figure skating teaches you patience, talks about earning your stripes, wait for your turn, this is not quite the same now as there are more countries and more athletes competing; generally the right one wins; talks about Canadian Championships that he felt Elvis Stojko should have won but that his winning was a vote of confidence by Skate Canada that they were sending the best to the Worlds; that Gold in the Canadians helped him to win the Worlds 23:23Talks about being in the top 5 in the World in 1989; talks about figures (which are no longer part of the competition) and how he had improved in this area, refers to them as being like scales on a piano, his coach loved them and he later came to appreciate them 25:20Talks about the slipped disc in his back "don't give up the dream" 26:901994 healthy again, recalls his naive mental attitude for the first title but he had lost that naiveté, he had wanted to retire after 1993 but was talked into going to the 1994 Olympics, (27:57) "I didn't go in there to win and you really have to. You have to believe. One negative thought can erase 100 positive thoughts" 28:46Talks about the 3 Olympics: used to World level competition and did not want to compete unless it mattered; first one (1988) too young, second (1992) injured and third (1994) lost the drive; did not find the pressure was hard to deal with, found it fun (29:40) "That's what top athletes feel like, they need to swim, ski, run, shoot that puck, hit that ball at the top of their ability or they are not doing it." 29:54On being the flagbearer in 1994: awesome, fantastic, one his favourite moments in his life 31:20The long programme in Lillehammer was about redeeming himself and to say what he wanted to say about his skating; talks about always wanting to put up a number in the medal count for Canada and regretting that he could not do that 33:38Sense of calm after the long programme, participated in the fight and won his personal battle 35:18Incredible sense of team, bonded, friends, all about the flag, representing your country on the world scene, "It doesn't get much bigger than that for an athlete" 36:47"As you age you gain experience. I now give what I can to a young athlete. It is not to make them win, It should be the about the athlete." 37:10Now able to see the sport in a broader spectrum. (37:46) "Make them (the young athlete) enjoy it and enjoy the moment. Help the sport and the individual and I don't worry about the flag so much." 2 of 2, Talks about steroids in figure skating 3:02Amateur vs professional - as an amateur it came to one moment very year, as a professional it was skating on a level throughout the year, to skate well all the time even if at a lower level, the rewards weren't as high but the failures weren't as low either 4:55As an amateur you didn't get that chance back, as a pro - a good pro has a realistic expectation of your ability to skate to reproduce closely every night; as an amateur you are skating at the edge of your ability to beat the best in the world - high stakes, high reward. 8:20Life lesson: Being involved in sport has taught him how to represent himself. "When someone talks to you, you look into your eyes…. You represent your family and when you do something wrong it reflects on your whole family and when you're an athlete your whole country is your family…" 9:30What teaches you more, winning or losing: Most people would probably say that losing would teach you more…but you can learn a lot from winning as well. You can learn how to win "If you beat someone and they are still your friends, that says a lot about who you are." 10:17 A funny moment in his career. 12:57Can youth enjoy sport without being competitive: Entering into a sporting experience as a young person is not pleasant for everyone. Not everyone is built for sports or has the right mindset for sports but that doesn't necessarily mean than you everything that you do in your life to win. Maybe you actually enjoy playing the game even though you don't win. That would be weird, right? NO. Maybe you actually do have fun. Maybe you like the camaraderie and if that means a certain level of play. Where the winning isn't as important, then do it. Do what you have to do to make yourself happy. Don't quit sports because they are telling you that you aren't competitive enough. I don't think that's fair. You are depriving yourself of something that you enjoy. But it might mean tweaking it until it fits the person who you are. Trying to be something that you are not is hard. Love the trying, it is the whole journey thing not the destination. 14:27Figure out what you want. Don't just follow along. Talk to your parents and coaches. Sport teaches you about disappointment, how to win, how to lose, how to endure, how to fight and train. All these things you can use in real life. It's a great thing to go through but is going to be different for everybody. Try to be honest with yourself and get out of it what you want. Tough but rewarding if you do it right. Talks about his childhood and playing on a softball team in Caroline and being a rag-tag team but still coming in 2nd in provincials twice. The other teams were there to win, but they were there to be the best they could be. 18:59Shows the skates he wore when he completed his first quad. |
Date |
2006/09/29 |
People |
Browning, Kurt Stojko, Elvis Orser, Brian Boitano, Brian Petrenko, Victor Slipchu, Michael |
Search Terms |
Mentor Kurt Browning Interview Figure skating skating Olympic Winter Games Gold Medal Lou Marsh Trophy Silver Medal Lionel Conacher Trophy World Figure Skating Championships 1992 Olympic Winter Games Albertville 1988 Olympic Winter Games Calgary 1994 Olympic Winter Games Lillehammer |