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Jeffrey Buttle Profile |
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Birth Date: September 1, 1982
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Birth Place: Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, Canada
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Birth Name: Jeffrey Buttle
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Height: 5'8"
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Biography |
Jeffrey Buttle (born September 1, 1982) is a Canadian figure
skater. He is the 2005-2007 Canadian Men's Champion, the
2005 World silver medalist, the 2002 and 2004 Four
Continents Champion, and the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist.
Buttle is currently ranked third in the world.
Jeffrey Buttle was born in Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, and
he began skating at age two and competing at age six. He
also competed in ice dancing with his older sister Meghan.
Buttle won the silver medal on the junior level at the
Canadian Figure Skating Championships in 1998. The next
year, he placed in the top ten at his first senior
nationals. He rose steadily through his ranks, gaining
valuable experience on the junior level. He made his senior
international debut in the 2001-2002 season, making his mark
immediately by winning the silver medal at the NHK Trophy
behind Takeshi Honda. At the Canadian Championships, Buttle
made his first run on the podium and placed third. It earned
him a trip to the Four Continents Figure Skating
Championships, where he won his first gold medal.
Buttle's bronze medal finish at Nationals caused him to be
named first alternate to the Canadian 2002 Olympic Figure
Skating Team. However, silver medalist Emanuel Sandhu
withdrew too late from the competition for Buttle to replace
him, so Buttle did not compete. Instead, he went to the 2002
World Figure Skating Championships and placed high enough to
earn Canada two spots to the next World Championships.
The next season, Buttle repeated his podium finish at
Nationals, but was unable to defend his title at Four
Continents. He worked to turn things around in the 2003-2004
season. He won his first gold medal on the Grand Prix of
Figure Skating circuit and his second silver. Buttle
qualified for the Grand Prix Final, but was forced to
withdraw. After that setback, he had a disappointing
Nationals and did not earn a spot to Worlds. Buttle was
instead sent to the Four Continents Championships, which he
won for the second time. Buttle decided he needed a change
of scenery and spent that summer training in Lake Arrowhead
with Rafael Arutunian, and Arutunian is still his secondary
coach, after Lee Barkell.
Buttle recovered in the 2004-2005 season. He qualified for
the Grand Prix Final a second time and won the silver medal.
He went on to win his first National title. He finished the
year with a silver medal at the 2005 World Figure Skating
Championships.
In the 2005-2006 Olympics season, Buttle won Trophée Eric
Bompard and came in second at Skate Canada. With a gold and
a silver medal, he qualified for the Grand Prix Final and
captured his second consecutive silver medal at that
competition. He went on to win his second National title and
went into the Olympics as the reigning World silver
medalist. While not a favorite to win, he was a favorite to
medal.
At the Olympics, Buttle skated a flawed short program that
left him in sixth place going into the free skate. Two days
later, during the free skate, Buttle fell on his attempt at
a quad toe jump and then put a hand down on the ice after a
triple axel. After this inauspicious beginning, he pulled
himself together to pull off a personal best and place
second in the free skate, third overall, winning Canada's
first bronze medal in men's figure skating. Buttle later
said that he kept thinking of winning a medal in his short
program but later focused on simply enjoying himself in the
free skate program, and it paid off.
After the Olympics, Buttle went on to the World
Championships, held in Calgary. However, he was unable to
perform at his best in front of a home audience and fell to
sixth place.
Buttle withdrew from the 2006 Grand Prix series due to a
stress fracture in his back. He began his season at the 2007
Canadian Figure Skating Championships, where he won his
third consecutive national title.
After the 2007 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Buttle
went on to the 2007 Four Continents Championships in
Colorado. He was the leader after the short program, but a
disappointing free skate in which he only did a double axel
without combination and a single on the second attempt left
him with the silver medal, behind American Evan Lysacek.
Buttle then competed at the 2007 ISU World Figure Skating
Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In his second international
competition of the season, Buttle was second after the short
program with a new personal best behind France's Brian
Joubert. After an unfortunate free skate, he dropped down to
sixth place (eighth in the free skate).
Buttle is known for the complex and unique choreography of
his programs, which are created by David Wilson. His
inventive spins and difficult footwork are favored by the
Code of Points, figure skating's new judging system, because
he does not like to take unnecessary risks on the ice.
Buttle currently lives in Toronto and trains at the Mariposa
School of Skating. His programs are choreographed by David
Wilson.
While Buttle's family is not French-Canadian, Buttle went to
a French language school as a child and is therefore
perfectly bilingual in English and French. He studied
chemical engineering at the University of Toronto part-time
before taking time off to focus on his skating.
In 2002, he was named one of the top ten "Most Beautiful
People in Figure Skating" by the International Figure
Skating magazine.
Buttle is the athlete representative on the Skate Canada
Officials Advisory Committee. |
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Other Information |
Is studying chemical engineering at the University of
Toronto (2006)
2005 World figure skating silver medalist
Has 1 sister, Meghan
2006 Olympic figure skating bronze medalist |
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