Don Knight

UP HIGH: Don Knight jumps for publicity shots.

Thanks to his prowess as a skater, Don Knight has seen the world.

In the process, Knight, former owner of the Waterdown Pizza Delight and a coach with the Burlington Skating Centre the past six years, won a bronze medal at the 1965 World Figure Skating Championships, competed as an 18-year-old at the Winter Olympics and garnered three gold medals at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

But he says his biggest thrill may be in the near future when he's inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.

"I found out a couple of weeks ago," said Knight, still looking fit at age 60. "I was very excited. It's a great compliment, especially when you see the list of who is already there."

The exact time and date of the inductions of Knight, coach Marijane Stong and journalists Jim Proudfoot and George Gross has yet to be announced.

Knight, like most young boys in Canada, played hockey as a youngster, but found the one-practice, one-game-a-week schedule too limiting to his ice time. His parents suggested joining the Dundas Skating Club and signed him up.

"It definitely helped for hockey," he said, "I played hockey for a couple more years and then concentrated on figure skating. It was a whirlwind back then. Before I knew it I was on the Canadian team."

When Knight won his first Canadian title in 1965, he had already competed at two world championships and the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, where he finished ninth. He remembers competing at the Olympic trials at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto the day U.S. president John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Competing at the '64 Olympics was an experience he'll never forget.

"The most memorable moment was marching in the parade into the ski-jump venue with the spectators surrounding the area," he said.

One moment, however, tops the Olympics. In 1965, competing in the worlds at Colorado Springs, only Alain Calmat of France and runner-up Scott Allen of the U.S. outscored the 17-year-old Knight. He excelled at the now discarded practice of school figures, and that skill allowed him to earn an Olympic bronze medal.

But for all his success, he was out of the sport as an amateur competitor by the age of 20.

"I had been to the worlds five times," said Knight. "There were no carded athletes back then, no funds available at all, so family and/or sponsors paid the expenses."

Walter Thomson, a businessman in Dundas who has since passed away, was a figure skating fan. He helped ease the financial load for the Knight family by sponsoring the teen.

The lure of earning a living from skating led Knight to turning pro, touring North America with the Ice Capades and Europe and South America with Holiday on Ice for a total of 13 years.

He met his future wife, Janet Runn on the North American tour. They married in 1969 and have two children, Kelly and David, and two grandchildren, Jaxon, 5, and Brooklynn, 3.

"I enjoyed the life, but it's a lot of travel and we decided to settle down in 1980," he said.

Knight and Thomson started Donwal Investments, eventually owning six Pizza Delight franchises, including three in Burlington.

Knight said they had some really good years, but, with the enormous competition from big pizza chains, they eventually decided to sell or close the stores, the last, in Waterdown, in 2003.

At the Burlington Skating Centre, Knight works mainly with coaches Mike and Arlene Richards as well as Joanne Corner, helping students with their strokes and presentation.

Mike Richards, who was largely responsible for the club's hiring of Knight, also did a lot of the paper work to back Knight's nomination for the hall of fame.

"Don is probably the nicest man you could ever meet," he said. "He's good to everyone, he doesn't over-react to anything and works incredibly hard."

Richards said he is amazed by the passion and enthusiasm Knight displays on the job.

"You'll see Don out on his knees in a pre-school program rolling around with the little kids having a great time and then he'll be the last one out teaching an adult session, teaching them and every (age group) in between," said Richards. "We all feed off his enthusiasm."

Another element Knight brings to the job, said Richards, is the exceptional career highlights and knowledge he's gained from hall-of-fame coaches such as Ellen Burka, Dennis Silverthorne and Sheldon Galbraith.

"He's accomplished things that no coach here has," said Richards. "He can tell us what it was like to be in the Olympics or how it felt to go to five world championships and stand on the podium."

Knight kept in the sport while operating his business by judging skating competitions. He marvels at what skaters can do today and wonders what the sport will offer in 20 years.

"I loved Jeffrey Buttle at worlds and I agree with him that it's more than just the jumps that make a good routine," said Knight. "It's giving a well-rounded performance."

Knight is thankful that skating clubs in Dundas and other small centres aid young athletes in their pursuit of whatever goals they set. It's one reason he got back into the sport as a teacher.

"I totally enjoy helping out," he said. "How long? I'll take it on a year-to-year basis."

That's a time Richards would just as soon avoid.

"One of the moments I dread the most is the day Don says, 'I'm done,'" said Richards. "Because it will be a loss not only to us personally, but to the club and the greater skating community."