Jeff Buttle

Canada has a great legacy of men's skating, with the likes of Donald Jackson, Brian Orser, Kurt Browning, and Elvis Stoyko being recognized as the best in the world in their eras. In 2008, Jeffrey Buttle joined their ranks, winning his first World title. After finishing second on two previous occasions, and earning an Olympic bronze, two superb performances saw him win by over 14 points. Jeff's unique combination of technical excellence and outstanding interpretation and musicality makes him a favourite of the judges and crowds alike, and he is one of Canada's best medal hopes as the 2010 Olympics approaches

Jeff grew up in Northern Ontario, began skating at age 2 and first competed at age 6. He won the silver medal at the junior level at Canadians in 1998. The next year, he placed in the top ten at his first senior nationals. 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, and placed third at Canadians. He traveled to Korea for the 2002 Four Continents event, where he won his first gold medal. He was named first alternate to the Canadian 2002 Olympic team and competed at the 2002 World Championships.

In the 2003-2004 season, he won his first gold medal on the Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit and his second silver. Jeff 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. He was instead sent to the Four Continents Championships, which he won for the second time. Jeff decided he needed a change of scenery and spent that summer training in Lake Arrowhead with Rafael Arutunian.

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, Jeff won Trophee 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. At the Olympics, Jeff skated a flawed short program that left him in sixth place going into the free skate. Two days later he pulled off a personal best and place second in the free skate, third overall.

Jeff withdrew from the 2006 Grand Prix series due to a stress fracture in his back. He began his season at Canadians, where he won his third consecutive national title. At Worlds, he was second after the short program with a new personal best. He placed eighth in the free skate, dropping down to sixth place overall.

Last season Jeff competed on the Grand Prix circuit, placing third and fourth at his two events. At Nationals, he lost his title to Patrick Chan, and perhaps was not a favourite going into Worlds but Jeff's magnificent performance in Sweden made him a worthy World Champion.

Jeff studied chemical engineering at the University of Toronto part-time before taking time off to focus on his skating. He is the athlete representative on the Skate Canada Officials Advisory Committee. He splits his time between training in Barrie with Lee Barkell, and Lake Arrowhead, California, with Rafael Arutunian.