Canada`s figure skating champion Patrick Chan set to resume training

Minden, Ontario: Three-time world figure skating champion Patrick Chan will take a surfing holiday in Costa Rica next month before buckling down in June to train for his return to competition following a one-year hiatus.

In an interview Wednesday, Chan said he looks forward to being back in the competition mix when the 2015-16 season begins this fall.

"I decided not to make a formal announcement (about my return). I`d rather not use my words instead of just showing up for my first Grand Prix (event), showing that I`m prepared and skating well," Chan said from Minden, Ontario, where he is rehearsing for the cross-Canada Stars on Ice tour.

Show tours in Japan and the US were also on the seven-time Canadian titleholder`s schedule this past year.

Chan will kick off his summer training in Toronto with choreographer David Wilson. They will spend two weeks creating a new short programme and retooling the Chopin-backed long routine that Chan used to win the invitational Japan Open last year.

At Chan`s training base in Detroit, his main coach will continue to be Kathy Johnson, who will commute periodically from her Kansas City, Missouri home.

"The work we`ve done together is phenomenal and it`s been such a great experience. We`ve been talking constantly over the past year and we`ve made some comments as to how to change it up a bit and train in a different way that will benefit me."

As for making a bid for 2018 Olympic gold after settling for silver behind Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu last year in Sochi, the 24-year-old Chan said, "I`d love to but it`s a long ways away. I`m older than a lot of the skaters now in the men`s field.

"Hopefully, my body will hold up. If I do the right things, I`m sure I will. It would be a great goal to achieve."