Jeffrey Buttle

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Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Bronze	2006 Turin	Men's singles

Jeffrey Buttle

Personal Info
Country:	Canada
Residence:	Barrie, Ontario
Height:	173 cm (5'8")
Coach:	Lee Barkell, Rafael Arutunian
Skating Club:	Sudbury SC
ISU Personal Best Scores
Short + Free Total:	227.59	2006 Olympics
Short Program:	79.90	2007 Worlds
Free Skate:	154.30	2006 Olympics

Most Recent Results:
Event	Points	Finish	Year
Four Continents Championships	223.96	2nd	2007
National Championships	232.83	1st	2007

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.^[1]

Contents 1 Biography 2 Off the ice 3 Programs 4 Competitive highlights 5 References 6 External links 7 Navigation

[edit] Biography

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 Olympis 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 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.

[edit] Off the ice

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.^[2] 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.

[edit] Programs

2006-2007 Season

Short Program

"Adios Nonino" by Astor Piazolla

Long Program

"Ararat (soundtrack)" by Michael Danna

Exhibition

"High" by James Blunt

2005-2006 Season

Short Program

"Sing, Sing, Sing" by Louis Prima

Long Program

"Samson & Delilah" by Camile Saint-Saens

Tribute to Glenn Gould:

Prelude from "Tristan und Isolde" by Richard Wagner

Leicht und Zart from "Six Little Pieces for Piano" by A. Schoenberg

Danse Morceaux - Caresse Dansee by A. Skriabin

Variation 16 performed by Glenn Gould

Prelude No. 2 in C minor from "Das Wohltemperierte Klavier" by J.S. Bach

Gigue from Suite for Piano by A. Schoenberg

Concerto in D minor after Alessandro Marcello by J.S. Bach

Exhibition

"Feeling Good" by Michael Buble

"Fix You" by Coldplay

"Ave Maria" by The East Village Opera Company

2004-2005 Season

Short Program

"Prelude in C Sharp Minor" by Rachmaninoff

Long Program

"Nagoygatsi" by Phillip Glass

Exhibition

"Hurt" by Johnny Cash

"Ave Maria" by The East Village Opera Company

"Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart

2003-2004 Season

Short Program

"Take Five" by Paul Desmond

Long Program

"Samson and Delilah" by Camille Saint-Saens

Exhibition

"Do Nothing til You Hear from Me" - by Robbie Williams

"Angels" by Robbie Williams

"Lonely Christmas Eve" by Ben Folds Five

2002-2003 Season

Short Program

"Conspiracy Theory" soundtrack by Carter Burwell

Long Program

"Elgar's Cello Concierto in E Minor"

Exhibition

"Seven Days" by Craig David

"Angels" by Robbie Williams

"Lonely Christmas Eve" by Ben Folds Five

2001-2002 Season

Short Program

"The Last Emperor" soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Long Program

"Gelsomina" from La Strada by Nino Rota

Exhibition

"Your Song" by Elton John

"Trouble" by Coldplay

[edit] Competitive highlights

Event	1998-1999	1999-2000	2000-2001	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007
Winter Olympic Games								3rd
World Championships				8th	15th		2nd	6th	6th
Four Continents				1st	4th	1st			2nd
Canadian Championships	10th	6th	9th	3rd	2nd	3rd	1st	1st	1st
Grand Prix Final							2nd	2nd
Skate Canada					7th	2nd	3rd	2nd
Trophée Eric Bompard								1st
Cup of China							1st
NHK Trophy				2nd	5th	1st
Bofrost Cup on Ice						2nd
Nebelhorn Trophy			7th	2nd
World Juniors			7th
Karl Schaefer Memorial				3rd
JGP Harbin			4th
JGP Ukraine			3rd
JGP Japan		6th
JGP Slovenia		4th
JGP Germany	6th

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.isufs.org/ws/wsmen.htm
2. ^ http://www.skatecanada.ca/en/events_results/events/mcsci05/athletes/buttle.html

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• Skate Canada Profile
• Jeffrey Buttle at the International Skating Union biography page

• NBCOlympics Profile
• Jeffrey Buttle's Official Message Forum
• Jeffrey Buttle on IMDb

[edit] Navigation