Stéphane Lambiel

Infobox Figure skater
title= Stéphane Lambiel


caption= Stéphane Lambiel at the 2008 World Championships
fullname= Stéphane Lambiel
altname=
country= SUI
formercountry=
dateofbirth= birth date and age|1985|4|2
birthplace= Martigny
hometown= Saxon
residence=
height= convert|177|cm|ftin|abbr=on
coach= Viktor Petrenko,
Galina Zmievskaya
formercoach= Peter Grütter
choreographer= Salome Brunner,
Antonio Najarro
formerchoreographer=
skating club= Patineurs de Genève
retired=
combined total= 239.10
combined date= 2007-2008 GPF
SP score= 83.80
SP date= 2007-2008 GPF
FS score= 160.90
FS date= 2006 Worlds

Stéphane Lambiel (born April 2, 1985 in Martigny, Switzerland) is a Swiss figure skater known for his creative and beautiful spins. He is a two-time World Champion (2005-2006), the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Champion (2005 and 2007) and an eight-time Swiss National Champion.

Personal life

Lambiel grew up in Saxon, Switzerland. He has a sister, Silvia (born in 1982), and a brother, Christophe (born in 1989). Lambiel's mother is Portuguese. Lambiel lives in Lausanne, Switzerland and received his "maturité" (matura) in biology and chemistry in June 2004.Fact|date=May 2008

Lambiel speaks French, German (not Swiss German), English, and Portuguese fluently. He is learning Italian.Fact|date=May 2008

He has recurring injuries in both his knees, requiring him to miss exhibitions and training time. Unlike most figure skaters, Lambiel can spin and jump in both directions.Fact|date=May 2008 He is able to do successive double axels, changing his rotation direction between each one. However, he has stopped training this.Fact|date=May 2008

Lambiel has many sponsors in Switzerland. In 2007, he designed a Swiss watch, called the "Spin Master".Fact|date=May 2008

Lambiel's good luck charm is a ladybug.Fact|date=May 2008

Career

Early career

As the Swiss novice men's champion, Lambiel performed an exhibition at the 1997 World Championships, held in Lausanne. The next year, he became Swiss junior men's champion and by 2000, he was the Swiss senior men's champion. He came in fifth at the 2001 World Junior Championships. The next season, Lambiel was age-eligible for senior international competition. The Swiss skating federation told him that they would send him to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City if he placed in the top twelve at the European Championships. [http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5070841/detail.html] Lambiel placed fourth there and was sent to the Olympics, where he placed fifteenth. He then placed eighteenth at the Senior Worlds.

The following season, Lambiel placed fifth at Europeans and moved up a few places at Worlds. By 2004, he was sixth at Europeans and fourth at 2004 Worlds. Lambiel was forced to miss the 2004-2005 Grand Prix season due to injury, but recouped to place 4th at Europeans.Fact|date=May 2008

World Champion and beyond

At the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, Lambiel was ahead of Evgeni Plushenko after the qualifying round and short program. When Plushenko withdrew from the competition with an injury, Lambiel was suddenly in a position to win the title. He did, with a spectacular performance to the King Arthur soundtrack. He landed two quadruple toe loops in the free skate and was the only skater to do two at that event. It was the first time a Swiss man had been World Champion since Hans Gerschwiler in 1947.Fact|date=May 2008

Lambiel went into the 2006 Olympic season as the World Champion, but not as the favourite for the Olympic title. He won two silver medals on the Grand Prix circuit and won the Grand Prix Final. He came in second at Europeans, behind Plushenko, and went into the Olympics with a strong chance to medal. He was third after the short program, but pulled up to second to win the silver medal. Lambiel did not complete a triple axel at the Olympics. However, he did land a perfect quadruple-triple-double combination.Fact|date=May 2008

Plushenko chose not to go to Worlds, leaving Lambiel as the favourite to defend his title. Lambiel was first after the qualifying round and maintained his lead through the short and the long programs, allowing him to successfully defend his title and become the first Swiss skater ever to be a two-time World Champion.Fact|date=May 2008

Lambiel began the 2006 - 2007 season by coming back from the short program to win the gold medal at Skate Canada International, where he finished seventh in the short program and first in the free skate. Lambiel had also been assigned to the NHK Trophy, but he withdrew before the event, citing health reasons. [ [http://www.isu.org/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,4844-128590-19728-18885-264781-3787-4771-layout46-129898-news-item,00.html ISU : Full Story ] ] He recovered in time to skate at the Swiss Championships, where he won his seventh national title. However, on January 16th, Lambiel withdrew from the European Championships, citing burnout. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070117/sp_wl_afp/fskateeurpolsui_070117154030] He competed again at the 2007 World Championships in Tokyo where he fell on his triple axel and tripled his intended quad-triple combination in the short program and placed 6th. He came back in the long program where he landed two quads and a triple axel and finished in 2nd on the night and 3rd overall.Fact|date=May 2008

In 2007, he finished 3rd at the Cup of China and 2nd at the Cup of Russia. He then went on to win the Grand Prix Final for a second time in his career with 239.10 points, only 0.16 points over Daisuke Takahashi. At the 2008 European Championships in Zagreb, he had a disappointing short program where he fell on his triple axel and only did a triple-double combination and placed 4th. He finished 2nd in the long program where he landed a quad-double toeloop-double loop combination and earned 80 points in program components score for his exquisite flamenco. He won his second Silver European medal, while Czech Tomas Verner won the Gold.Fact|date=May 2008

At the 2008 World Championships in Gothenborg, Sweden, Lambiel fell on his triple axel and put his hand down on a quad toe flip in the short program, putting him in fifth place going into the free skate. In the free skate, he stepped out of his triple axel attempt, put his hand down again on the quad toe in his combination, and then stepped out on his solo quad toe. He finished in fifth place overall.Fact|date=May 2008

Lambiel is known for his spins. He often jokes that he is able to spin so well because he eats so much Swiss chocolate.Fact|date=May 2008 This is a pun on the fact that Swiss skaters are known for having incredibly good spins.

Coaching changes

Lambiel trained from 1995 through the 2007-2008 season with coach Peter Grütter, with a brief stop in 2004. He trained in Geneva and Lausanne and as most Swiss rinks close in the summer, he also trained in Germany (Oberstdorf sometimes) during that time. His choreographer has long been Salomé Brunner. He designs his own costumes.Fact|date=May 2008

On June 6, 2008, Lambiel announced that he would be leaving coach Peter Grütter and moving to New Jersey to work with Viktor Petrenko and Galina Zmievskaya. [ [http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Lambiel_makes_coach_swap_to_raise_stakes.html?siteSect=104&sid=9183262&cKey=1212759918000&ty=nd SwissInfo.Ch: Lambiel Makes Coach Swap to Raise Stakes June 6, 2008] ]

Programs

*N = Novice level; J = Junior level

References

External links

* [http://www.stephanelambiel.ch Official Website]
*