Chan unsure about future in skating

TORONTO (AP) — Olympic silver medalist Patrick Chan still hasn’t watched the tape of his performance at the Sochi Olympics.

He’s not planning to any time soon.

Chan had a strong opportunity to become Canada’s first Olympic men’s figure skating champion last February, but struggled in his free skate and finished behind Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu.

“It took me some time at the games to get over the disappointment of being so close, yet so far,” Chan said. “I had a couple reminders when I was on tour in Japan skating with Yuzuru in the shows. That didn’t help, either. So I think the last thing I want do is look back at the programs, even though some things were great.

“Knowing me, I’m a perfectionist, I’ll just pick on the bad stuff. It will eat away at me. For me, the best way to cope with how I did is just look at those two medals I got and look at them as two great silver medals.”

Canada also wound up second in the team event behind host Russia.

“Silver medals that a lot of people dream to have and then move on,” Chan added. “Move on by sharing it with Canada, sharing it with people here. That helps me cope with that bit of a disappointment.”

Chan didn’t try to win a fourth straight world title this year. He skipped the event in Japan and Hanyu took gold there as well.

Chan, 23, has yet to decide if he’s up for another four-year cycle of training and competitions ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. He’s skipping the Grand Prix season and will wait until later this year before making a decision on Canadian nationals and the world championships.

“I’m going to take a bit of a break from the Grand Prix season,” Chan said. “I’ve done it so many years, I think I deserve a bit of a break from it. Just take that opportunity to catch up with friends that I haven’t had a chance to, and play some hockey or go do things that I’ve always wanted to do and just haven’t had the chance.

“I think that will help me find that motivation again to come back. Just so I feel like I’m not missing out on some stuff that I’ve wanted to do since my childhood.”

Canada’s nationals will be held Jan. 17-25. Shanghai will host the March 23-29 worlds.

“That’s another thing to consider,” he said of any comebacks. “It’s not something I can just show up at in January and hope that I skate well and win another title. It’s something that I have to really prepare and I’d want to prepare properly, so I’d have to take time out of the fall to start training for that.

“If I’m committing to the next four years to the next games, then I want to take at least one year for myself to not stress and just take a breath and really plan my life just by what I want to do, not what people tell me to do.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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