Patrick Chan on Strombo: Figure skating future unclear

Canadian figure skater Patrick Chan brought his two silver medals from the Sochi Olympics to Wednesday’s appearance on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

Will they be his last from a Winter Games or any competition?

“I’m just really relieved and can look at the next part of my life, the next chapter,” he said, “whether it’s continuing skating or going into something else. I don’t know.”

Chan, a Toronto native, didn’t skate for a fourth straight title at the world championship recently in Japan, opting to skip the event after finishing second in men’s singles and the team event in Russia.

In some ways it was a disappointing Olympics for Chan, who failed to become the first Canadian man to win gold in singles in Olympic figure skating.

Within five points of Japanese phenom Yuzuru Hanyu after the short program, Chan caught a break when his opponent stumbled in the long portion.

The Canadian, skating immediately following Hanyu, appeared on his way to gold after landing his first quad. But Chan stumbled through the rest of his program and finished with a score of 178.10, behind Hanyu’s 178.64.

“It’s a big weight off my shoulders, honestly,” said Chan when asked by Stroumboulopoulos how he feels five weeks later. "My whole life has been in four-year cycles [preparing for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Sochi]. I have an open book [now]."

Click above to watch more of Strombo’s interview with Chan.