TORONTO — David Dore was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday for what he's done for figure skating, and he's far from finished.

The 67-year-old Ottawa resident aims through his position as vice-president for figure skating for the International Skating Union to reinvigorate a sport that is struggling to attract new fans because its scoring system would be difficult for even Albert Einstein to decipher.

The system was implemented after the judging scandal that rocked the 2002 Olympics, and figure skating continues its attempts to recapture the popularity it enjoyed worldwide in the 1990s.

"I wish it had never happened but it did," Dore said of the fiasco six years ago. "In an instant, the whole credibility of the sport had been thrown out the window by the foolishness of some people who thought they were bigger and better than the sport and who, in my opinion, to this day have never shown proper remorse for what they did."

The athletes like the current system but Dore, who holds the most important position in the world in the sport he took up at age 12 to strengthen his legs after nearly dying from polio, is well aware that much remains to be done.

"This is where the challenge lies today," he says. "We have something that's a lot better, a lot more credible, and something I feel a lot more comfortable with (that pre-2002) but somehow or other we need to do a better job of selling the product we have in a better way and making it more user friendly."

Dore became a volunteer director in 1972 of the Canadian Figure Skating Association, now known as Skate Canada, and was president from 1980 to 1984 while he was a high school teacher in Mississauga, Ont. He was a judge at seven world figure skating championships and at the 1984 Winter Olympics.

He became in 1985 the association's first paid leader and, before quitting in 2002 to take his current job with the world governing body, he transformed the sport in Canada. Membership grew by leaps and bounds thanks to new programs he put in place, rich television contracts were landed, corporate sponsorships multiplied, and event revenues poured in.

Dore insisted that the athletes do their part, which was to win medals. The demand made him unpopular at times with national team members. Kurt Browning's first impressions of Dore were that he was "abrasive, authoritarian and aloof, like a very strict school principal."

By the time he'd won four world championships, Browning learned to respect Dore's way of doing things. Browning began calling him "Super Dave" and lauded his contributions to the sport in his 1991 book "Forcing The Edge."

"It was his imagination and drive that took Canadian figure skating to a whole new level of public acceptance," Browning wrote. "His perseverance resulted in a level of corporate support that's the envy of other sports."

The national governing body's budget was $2 million annually when Dore assumed control. It was $17 million when he stepped down. Brian Orser, Browning and Elvis Stojko kept the momentum going by dominating the world men's singles scene, and success in all four of figure skating's disciplines made it all work.

The success of the 1988 Calgary Olympics was the turning point, says Dore. Elizabeth Manley, Brian Orser and ice dancers Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall all won medals.

"That was the point at which I felt all the business programs, the funding, the television and the sponsorships came together," he recalls. "As a result of '88, those people became significant role models for what was to follow."

Dore, who previously was presented with the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee, attended the HomeSense Skate Canada International meet in Ottawa last week and gives thumbs up to a program used by the organizers in which fans could e-mail questions for explanations of judging decisions.

"It kind of turned people on a bit," he said.

Another thing that might turn fans on is a reduction in entry lists at the Olympics and world championships.

"Everybody is becoming cost-conscious," Dore reasons. "Do you really want to sit through 25 bad (skating) programs so you can see five good ones?

"If you're using your head, no. People have to have a return value for their money and they have to have the sense they've seen something of value. To us, value is a quality performance. The ISU has to back the thing in so (skaters) have universal entry somewhere - but not always at the top."

Dore entered Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in the builders' category, and he put enough building blocks in place in Canadian figure skating to ensure success for years to come.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.