Jeffrey BUTTLE

Figure skater Jeff Buttle was skating by the age of two and competing at six. In his early years he paired with his sister Meghan to compete in ice dancing tournaments. As a singles competitor he first drew attention in 1998 when he was the runner up in the Canada Junior Figure Skating Championship. His next three years were rocky, placing 10th, 6th and 9th at the senior level of the competition and 7th at the World Junior Championships. He finally reached the podium in 2002, with a bronze medal at the Canadian Championships, but was selected only as an alternate for the 2002 Winter Olympics and that year’s national runner-up Emanuel Sandhu pulled out too late to be replaced by Buttle. The latter competed at the 2002 World Championships and placed 8th, and then took silver at the 2003 Canadian Championships. He slid to 15th at that year’s World Championship and in 2004 won another bronze medal at the Canadian Championships.

Buttle had his landmark year in 2005 when he won the first of three consecutive Canadian Championships and was runner-up at the World Championships. He made it to the 2006 Winter Olympics and won a bronze medal in the singles tournament, but placed 6th in the 2006 World Championships and again in 2007. In 2008 he slid to runner up position at the Canadian Championship, but pulled off an amazing program at that year’s World Championships to take home the gold. Declaring that his motivation to compete had ended, he retired in September of that year. He had skated with Stars on Ice for the final three years of his amateur career and began touring with Smuckers Stars on Ice in 2009. Prior to focusing on his skating he had been a chemical engineering student at the University of Toronto. Since his retirement he has also worked a choreographer and the athlete representative to the Skate Canada Officials Advisory Committee.