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Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko: 20 years on, still in fine form

Stephanie Myles

As Canada crosses its collective fingers (and toes) in the hopes that the polished Patrick Chan can pull off a gold medal in men's figure skating tonight in Sochi, it's the perfect time to go back in time and remember when these two dudes ruled.

Time has been kind to Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko (other than Browning's hairline, which was a foregone conclusion decades ago). They look like they could hop right back onto the ice right now.

Stojko looks even better than he did back in 1994, when the narrative was all about his kung fu and martial arts obsessions, as the figure-skating world tried to explain why he was a little weak in the expressive-arm, artistic impression area, but that this was still okay. He's still at his figure-skating fighting weight.

Now 41, Stojko has gotten away from the figure-skating rat race. He married beautiful Mexican figure skater Gladys Orozco in 2010. That's where he lives, in a rural setting where no one cares about quads and footwork and artistic impression.

Browning, now 47, married ballerina Sonia Rodriguez all the way back in 1996; their two sons are 10 and six. In addition to skating commentary (he's very good, even though he sometimes has to say stuff like, 'Watch Patrick Chan now; he's going into a trance," he has hosted CBC's Battle of the Blades for many years.

Here's a fun Tweet from Stojko, as three friendly foes from years ago reunited in Sochi.

How good do the Canadians look? Viktor Petrenko, well, for a second there we thought that was Vladislav Tretiak, although he's hanging in there.

Remember him as the happiest guy on the podium, with his bronze medal a great consolation prize in the Battle of the

Brians (Boitano and Orser)?

The Brians were WAY too stressed out to truly enjoy that moment.

Browning was the first skater to land an officially-verified quadruple jump, a toe loop ... all the way back in 1988 at the world championships in Budapest.

"I remember that there were a few people landing the jump (in practice) long before I did, and by watching them I was inspired to try it myself. After landing it, I certainly expected more skaters to start doing it in competition. I was surprised in the next few years when that really did not happen," Browning said.

Stojko was the first ever to land a quad-triple combination in competition. And it's a tribute to how truly difficult a feat that is that figure-skating has not been able to increase the difficulty in 20 years. In fact, fewer skaters are doing it now, especially as the new scoring system rewarding consistency makes the risk far less worth taking.

Both multiple world champions, the one thing they were not able to do was win Olympic gold, even with the luck of the Olympic cycle changing and Browning having two Olympics in his prime (1992 and 1994 for Browning; 1994 and 1998 for Stojko).

Browning, a four-time world champion – three straight leading into the Albertville Games in 1992, had a devastating Olympic career, finishing sixth in Albertville and fifth in Lillehammer in 1994.

Stojko fared better; he won three world titles, but managed silver at both the 1994 and 1998 Olympics.

Both are on hand in Sochi tonight, to see if Chan can get it done – break the Kurse of Kurt, so to speak.

Canadian Kevin Reynolds is scheduled to skate at 11:47 a.m. ET; Chan at 1:41 p.m. ET. It's on TSN; if you're stuck at work, click here to watch online.