Figure skatingSawyer walks away from amateur career

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Shawn Sawyer turned in the performance of a lifetime at this year's Canadian championships. Just a few months later, he's ready to move on to a new stage of his skating career. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Myriane Samson and Shawn Sawyer, Canada's national figure skating silver medallists in the ladies' and men's divisions, have decided they won't compete at the upcoming world championships in Moscow.

For Samson, that's due to an injury that should still allow her to skate again in the future. Sawyer, on the other hand, has decided to forego worlds in favour of a contract to perform with the Canadian Stars on Ice tour.

Sawyer said the consequences of his decision made it a difficult one, but he feels he's done the right thing for himself.

"I think the fact that I'm not doing worlds means that I am losing my eligibility as an amateur," said the 26-year-old from Edmundston, N.B. "I'm ready to turn the page.

"This was already my bonus season. I came back to do it for myself and I don't think I can do that two seasons in a row."

At Canadians this year, Sawyer had a "dream come true" performance in his free program, not putting a foot wrong down and ending up as the Canadian silver medallist. It was his favourite performance of the season, and possibly of his career.

"When you dream of having a performance like this and you do it when it counts, and you know it will be the last time you will be competing at nationals..." Sawyer said. "I am so proud of it. I have worked my whole life for it."

The day everything changed

Sawyer was on the team that competed at the Four Continents championships in Taiwan in February, and he said that his purpose for going to that event was solely to prepare for worlds, which were originally scheduled for Tokyo.

"I wanted to compete once in Asia before worlds, knowing that every time you go to Asia it's a different experience."

Returning from Taiwan, Sawyer was delighted at how well everything was coming together for him.

All that changed on March 11, when the first earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan. The world championships were subsequently postponed, then moved to Moscow at the end of April, throwing a wrench in Sawyer's plan to compete at worlds, followed by the world team trophy competition, before embarking on the Stars on Ice Tour. Suddenly, he could only do one.

Sawyer waited a bit before finally making the decision last weekend to not compete at worlds.

He said he agreed with the International Skating Union's decision to postpone the event.

"It might be worlds but it's just a figure skating competition, and people are dying and people don't have electricity.

"I'm not going to lie. I'm sad that I'm not going to compete at worlds, but I feel privileged to be on the Stars on Ice cast."

Ready to move on

Even though Sawyer shrugs of his brilliant performance at nationals as "only one out of about 500 competitions," I happen to remember a few other outstanding competitive performances in his career.

My memories notwithstanding, Sawyer is ready to move on.

"I had to choose between finishing my amateur career at worlds or starting my professional life with Stars on Ice, and since I really love to perform and I got this opportunity, I knew what I was going to choose.

"I love to do shows and I deserve to do what I love to do. And I get to do it with world and Olympic champions."

For the moment, Sawyer feels he's still a little caught between his old and new lives.

"I'm in a new phase of my career. Competing at worlds are over for me," he said.

"I'll be thinking a little about it [on the days I would have been competing]. But once those days are done, I think I'm going to feel that I made the right decision."

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