Canada’s Chan disses Joubert, his French rival

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Patrick Chan chews on his gold medal at the 2009 Four Continents Championship. He gave the media plenty to chew on Monday. (Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

It was pretty clear Canada’s Patrick Chan had been struggling to keep a lid on this for a while.

Because it took just one mention of the subject to figure skating’s rising male star for his disgust toward one of its established stars to boil over.

The question had to do with quadruple jumps and the disdain 2007 world champion Brian Joubert of France expressed when another Canadian, Jeffrey Buttle, took the 2008 world title from Joubert without trying one.

Chan, who also does not do the quad, was talking Monday about how the jump was not necessary but rather just ‘something to really impress the crowd and the media.’

So I asked Chan to comment on what Joubert had told me for a story published in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune: The Frenchman said he is very disappointed that more skaters aren’t trying quads and that they are needed to develop the sport.

The Canadian’s answer was startlingly and delightfully frank. What made it better is Chan, 18, was unafraid to speak his mind even though he is a contender for the men’s title in the 2009 worlds that begin here Tuesday.

Skaters always are worried about offending the sport’s sensibilities –- especially those of judges.

‘I think Joubert is always complaining about this because he never has anything else to say, honestly,’ Chan said.

‘Our men are doing worse, according to him. If you’re going to say, `Let’s all do quads,’ he better have three quads in the program and nail them good or else he has nothing to say.

‘He just says that because he wants to have an excuse ... Obviously, he needs to be focused on other things than just the jumps. He could do better in his performance, his footwork, his spins, for sure.’

‘It really frustrates me that he constantly says that.’

A Canadian reporter followed up, asking Chan if he were surprised Joubert had ‘dumped on’ Buttle at worlds last year.

‘I was really disappointed,’ Chan said. ‘That’s no sportsmanship. None at all. Tiger (Woods) is not going to say, ‘Oh, [Canadian golfer] Mike Weir [stinks] because he can’t shoot as good as I can.’ You have to play a fair game. You don’t talk behind people’s back like he did at worlds.’

Now Chan was in deep and knew it when a Canadian reporter asked, ‘Is he [Joubert] a bit of a jerk?’

‘I’m treading water,’ Chan said, laughing, but he didn’t seek a life line, even though two Canadian skating officials were on hand as the skater talked with a dozen media representatives in the basement of Staples Center.

‘He’s a nice guy to me,’ Chan said, ‘but I think when he is on the ice, and he has all the cameras around him, he changes personality, which is kind of bad. I think you should be yourself. He just tends to puff up a bit when he’s on the screen.’

And then, another Canadian reporter asked: ‘What do you think Joubert’s reaction to what you just said is going to be?’

‘I kind of dug myself a grave, huh?’ Chan said. ‘If he’s mad at me, he’s mad at me. What am I going to do?’

So I asked Chan if his opinion of Joubert was based primarily on what he had said about Buttle at last year’s worlds.

‘It was a bit of a turnoff,’ Chan answered. ‘Now I sort of know his personality. He’s kind of a sore loser, I guess. If he doesn’t win, he always has an excuse for not winning and not skating well.

‘Unfortunately, that’s his personality, and I don’t really like it. I’m still not going to trash talk about him all the time or say anything bad –- other than this time, I guess.’

I told Chan that Joubert might be inclined to answer simply by pointing out that he has won a world title and two world silver medals and let those achievements say, ‘Take that’ –- especially since the Canadian was ninth in his world debut last year.

‘Why not? I don’t care,’ Chan said. ‘Why are we having this conversation, anyway? I guess you guys are looking for a rivalry, but we’re not having a rivalry.’

At least not until the men’s event begins Wednesday.

-- Philip Hersh