Jason Brown on finding his self-worth, skating to "Schindler's List" and his transformed technique
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Silver medalist Jason Brown of the United States and gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan at the 2020 Four Continents Championships. (Getty Images)
This interview with Jason Brown was done a week before the 2020 World Figure Skating Championships were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was planned as an advance story for the event but had not been published before Wednesday’s cancellation announcement.
Because nearly all my questions addressed general rather than worlds-specific areas, I thought figure skating fans still would like to read it. I have edited some things to reflect the changed situation.
First, though, this statement Brown sent me by text soon after the cancellation was announced.
“I’m disappointed not to have the opportunity to compete at worlds. At the same time, I recognize this situation is way bigger than me or figure skating, and I’m 100% in support of doing everything we can to protect each other and our communities.”
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Since 2014 Olympian and 2015 U.S. champion Jason Brown moved to Toronto after his disappointing 2018 season to train with Tracy Wilson and Brian Orser, his skating has been erratic.
In being an old dog (now 25) trying to learn new tricks from new teachers in a new environment, Brown lost some of the consistency that defined his career until he failed to make the 2018 Olympic team.
It didn’t help that his training this season was limited for several weeks after Brown suffered a concussion in a late August automobile accident.
Since the beginning of 2020, though, all the pieces have been coming together for one of the sport’s most artistically captivating athletes.
Impressive second-place finishes at the U.S. and Four Continents championships would have sent Brown to the World Championships with a renewed level of confidence. In a recent phone conversation, I asked him about that, about changes in his jump technique, about skating to music from the Holocaust-themed movie, “Schindler’s List”. . .and, of course, about quadruple jumps.
You have had strong performances in two straight events, the U.S. Championships and Four Continents. What does that do to your confidence level?
The confidence comes from the fact that what I’m doing with my team is paying off, and we’re moving in the right direction. I had a track record that was very consistent. When I first moved here and made a lot of changes, that consistency was kind of in flux. I had never gone through such an uprooted changing of everything. I’ve been trying to get back to that consistency, and I’m at a point now that we’ve gone through a lot of trial and error and are getting closer to finding the path that works best. I think it has showed at the last two events.
At Four Continents in the free skate, you beat winner Yuzuru Hanyu on component scores. Because your grades of execution were so high, you weren’t far behind him overall (7.49 points) despite element base values 20 points lower than his. Tracy and Brian said to me almost two years ago that you could use GOE to make up for the big jumps you weren’t doing. When did you realize that concept was going to work?
I think I have to always believe in myself and that the direction I’m trying to push the sport will pay off. I just try to give the judges no reason to doubt giving me the highest marks they feel I deserve. I want to give them the highest possible quality so they can’t question giving me a a +4 or a +5. I really want to be crisp and clear. That was a very clear vision for Tracy and Brian. I’m really proud that came through at Four Continents and the U.S. Championships, and that people notice that.
Do you think you would make a bigger impact on the judges’ thought process by having a triple Axel-triple toe instead of a triple-double as the first element in your free skate?
As far as points go, doing two triple-triple combinations in the second half of the program rack up more than by doing an opening triple Axel-triple toe. Last year, I did have 3A-3T at the beginning, and we did do it because it’s more impressive that way, but when we look at the breakdown of points, this is the route we went this year.
You have struggled with the triple Axel at times the last two seasons, but you hit all six flawlessly in the last two competitions. How did you lose it and get it back?
In every aspect, they (his coaches) have made a lot of changes, but especially on the triple Axel. It has been a long road after moving here to get that jump consistent again. We went through a lot in the way they wanted my jumps to look and in my technique, and it really shot my confidence for a while. I would have long lessons at the end of the day just to be working on double Axel and triple Axel over and over and over again because what they were trying to teach me wasn’t really registering at first, and I wasn’t comfortable with it.
My Axels have never felt better. I respect their patience to go through that process with me and not get discouraged along the way.
In simple terms, what is the technical change on the Axel?
They definitely have me rotating a lot quicker. I get into the jump a lot faster. That threw me way off for a while. But we kept on task.
You used to prefer getting near the apogee of the jump flight before starting to rotate?
Exactly. That gave me confidence from an awareness of where I was in the jump. They completely unwound that philosophy, and it’s all about getting unto the jump quicker and kind of using the ground to initiate the rotation.
The old way worked when I was kind of a spring chicken and able to do the jumps very easily by launching them before rotating. Now I have a bigger body and an older body and now we want to do four rotations, so my old way isn’t as efficient or reliable. If I’m a little off the old way, I’m not able to correct it that quick. If I initiate the rotation quicker from the start, I can correct it in the air and still land it.
Although comparing scores can be a fool’s errand, it’s still interesting to note you have the fourth highest total in the world this season. It looks as if you are in range of a worlds podium even without a quad. Do you feel that way?
When you have a sport, anything is possible. I think I have allowed people throughout my career to tell me what was possible for me to achieve or not achieve, and I kind of let them define those things for me. By the time they realized what I was capable of, it was often too late for me to realize it.
It had gotten In my head that I wasn’t good enough or I didn’t have the technical ability or I wasn’t going to be rewarded for what I did because of what I did or did not have. I have built a better sense of my self-worth when it comes to competing, so I’m not fazed by what could or could not happen. We’re in a competition, and I do believe I can be on that podium if I skate the way I can.
Your free skate to music from the movie “Schindler’s List” has won wide acclaim. You have said this was music and a subject you have waited to do. Why was that? Does it mean more to you as a Jewish skater?
Being Jewish and wanting to do the piece justice, knowing the weight of the piece and weight of the story, growing up with that understanding, until I felt capable of conveying that story and doing it in a mature and classy way, I don’t think I felt I could do it. This year, when we were trying to decide what to skate to, after hours of going through pieces, (choreographer) David Wilson just asked me, “What have you always wanted to do?” I said, “Schindler’s List, but I have never felt good enough to do it, because of the back story.” He said, “I would love to do it with you if you want.”
I took a couple deep breaths and looked at how far I have come not only in the sport but also as mature and developed as I have become as a person. I realized I was ready to take on the piece. I have really loved tapping into the heart and soul of the piece, and I have loved performing it every time.
Did you ever worry the story is so gut-wrenching that it would emotionally overwhelm you?
There are definitely times when it is very difficult. At the beginning, when I wasn’t quite ready to compete and not confident in myself and my skating, it was like, “I’m not doing this justice.” Having the heaviness of the piece combined with not feeling fully prepared made it almost a little bit of a letdown. After waiting until now to do it, I was disappointed I wasn’t able to portray the emotion of it because I was so focused on the technical aspect. I was reading “All the Light We Cannot See” (editor’s note: a novel set during the Nazi occupation of France), and as I was reading the book, it was really hard to skate that program. The book was very eye opening for me in showing what a bigger magnitude the story had and what it encompasses.
So, yes, sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. At my age now, I am able to deal with those emotions better.
Is there one moment in your interpretation that best expresses your feeling for the story?
A great question. There is the same underlying story, but we try to take it in different chunks. At the beginning, it’s a cross between being terrified at what’s going to happen to me and my need to fight for what I believe in. I start with my eyes closed, slowly open them, and you’re kind of in this dazed state, almost a dream, but it’s reality. I love that, and I love the part during the footwork where I reach for my stomach. I love bringing in the part of the music that everyone knows at such a late point of the program. Honestly, every part seems so seamless, and to me that makes it one story. It was so well choreographed by David Wilson, and I’m proud I can put my spin on it.
Do you realize if you had landed that quad toe at Four Continents, you might have beaten Yuzu in the free skate?
Do you realize it? It’s part of the message, that I’m learning to find my self worth. I have to believe in myself.
