THUNDER BAY – Michael Sumner can almost always be counted on for a smile.
But the Yukon figure skater’s blades carried an edge of sadness on Friday afternoon as he skated his routine at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre at the 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games to Bryan Adams’ classic tune Summer of ’69.
Sumner dedicated the routine to the memory of a former girlfriend, Stephanie, who passed away about a month ago.
“She was a great friend. I met her in 2016 in Victoria, where she lived. So I just said I’m going to dedicate (my skate) to her,” Sumner said. “It’s memorable.”
That’s just the person he is, said coach Chantal Emond.
“That’s how he skates. Sometimes he dedicates his skates for people who he loved. It’s really great,” Emond said.
It’s been a whirlwind kind of week for Sumner, who also had the chance to mingle with former Olympic ice dancer Scott Moir, who won gold in 2010 and 2018 with long-time partner Tessa Virtue.
“It was just phenomenal,” he said of the meeting. “I wanted to get his autograph. He’s coming back today and I’m going to get his autograph. It’s a simple as that.”
Moir, in town with fellow Olympians Jennifer Jones, Mark Tewksbury and Catriona Le May Doan, is one of Sumner’s idols.
“I watched them ever since they started their careers, basically. It’s just a great feeling (to have them here). Special Olympics means everything to me,” he said.
Sumner, it seems, means everything to his coach and teammates.
A veteran of four Special Olympics Canada Winter Games, a double gold medallist four years ago and a two-time world Special Olympic Winter Games participant, Sumner is always there to lend a hand to whomever might need it, said Emond, who filled in as the Team Yukon coach after the previous coach had to drop out about a month before the Games.
“He’s kind of shown me already how it’s supposed to run. I ask him questions. He tells me some answers and says, ‘this is how it’s supposed to go,’” Emond said.
“It’s also helpful for the other athletes. He knows a lot of stuff.”
Sumner is just taking it all in stride.
It’s essentially how he got his start in the sport.
“I thought, I may as well become an athlete while I can be. I started when I was about five years old in my parents’ backyard on a rink in Whitehorse and just went from there,” he said.
Competition at the 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games wraps up on Saturday.
