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Buttle captures world title

BEVERLEY SMITH

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 3:02 PM EST 22/03/08

Sudbury native is first Canadian men's winner since Elvis Stojko in 1997 ...Read the full article

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  1. Mike M from Sheunacadie N.S., Canada writes: Well done, Jeff!!!!
  2. Karen Johnson from Edmonton, Canada writes: Wow! To skate last, after a wonderful performance by the reigning world champion, and blow the lights out of the competition - it was brilliant. He said he was going to do a personal best in the free program and he did!

    To win both the long and short programs, to win skating last, to win with the calibre of skaters in the top ten - it truly was something to see and should give him all the confidence in the world for the future. What a skate; what a competitor. Bravo Jeff!
  3. globefan Eh from Canada writes: Nice to see Good News..Well done young Buttle, you did Canada proud.
  4. kelly moss from Canada writes: awesome -- i like good news ..
  5. kevin moulton from Toronto, Canada writes: I don't really follow figure skating, but a fantastic result Jeffrey. Congratulations!!
  6. warren standerwick from North Vancouver, Canada writes: For those who haven't been keeping score, this capped an amazing week for the Canadian team. Canada won three medals, France was second with two. Canada had four top fives- Japan was second with three. Canada had seven top tens tied with the US for the lead, although three of the US top 10's were, in fact 10's while all of Canada's were 9 or better.
  7. Keith Conley from Calgary, Canada writes: Jeff, Wow !!!!!! Congratulations, you excelled at what you are good at.

    I did not see the skate, but hope we will get a chance to do so.

    This is awesome.

    Joyce Conley.
  8. Jason Kinney from Canada writes: Congratulations Jeff!!
  9. Greta Hall from Canada writes: I hope this stops some of the debate around the quad vs. program debate. Figure skating is about the whole package - the program, elements, spins, footwork, etc. and not just one big (albeit difficult and very demanding) jump. Jeff truly demonstrated that keeping your cool and relying on your training is so important and the other men in the field showed us what happens when you 'wing' it.

    Congratulations to Patrick Chan as well - 9th at your first worlds is nothing to sneeze at!
  10. Karin Pasnak from Canada writes: Congratulation Jeff! You did it!!!!
    All your hard work paid off and we are so proud of you
  11. W R from Stratford, PE, Canada writes: Faaaantastic! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  12. You (D F, from Canada) wrote: Bravo! And I missed it. Thank you Warren for answering exactly what I was wondering. Way to go Jeff and all the Canadian skaters!
  13. Dead Parrot Sketch from Canada writes: did he hit on all the required twizzles?
  14. Kan Tankerous from Tronna, Canada writes: FAN-DAMN TASTICK!!!
  15. J L from Canada writes: Congratulations Mr Buttle. Well done sir. You join a prestigious list of Canadians who have won metals in figure skating.It doesn't get any better than a GOLD.Good for you.
  16. RON T from Kap, Canada writes: Good job Jeff,
    Not so good Beverley. Jeff is a native of Smooth Rock Falls Ontario..not Sudbury
  17. Stewart Mawdsley from Fort Smith, NWT, Canada writes: Wow didn't expect the sour grapes from Joubert - what he ignores is that his skating between the jumps is so far inferior to Jeff's as to be laughable. Jeff and E. Sandhu had the best transitions, interpretation and footwork difficulty in the world for years, Sandhu just never strung a clean set of programs together. And Joubert only did one quad and had several other sloppy moments, whereas Jeff was flawless.

    The only qualms I have with this year's worlds were Yukari Nakano not medalling (she was robbed of either a silver or a gold) and the German pairs team should have been 2nd or 3rd, not 1st. Also, CBC for cripes sakes, I hope you lose the rights to broadcast the worlds because you bunked it again.

    For anyone who missed Jeff's skate catch it on youtube!! only the russian version is up currently but someone usually posts the british commentary one as well.
  18. brokeback mountain from Canada writes: no more bloc judging, yeah!
  19. Joakim Runnedal from Stockholm, Sweden writes: Congratulations Canada! You've got an amazing figure skater in Jeff Buttle! A pity I wasn't at the Scandinavium Arena but I saw his skate on tv and it was just magnificent! Greetings from Sweden!
  20. Joakim Runnedal from Stockholm, Sweden writes: Here you can watch Buttle's golden skate: http://svt.se/svt/play/video.jsp?a=1093571
    Video from Swedish National Television (Swedish-speaking commentators)
  21. warren standerwick from North Vancouver, Canada writes: Enough with the CBC bashing. Their digital channel Country Canada showed every minute of every competition live. (It costs me about $1.50 a month because I have it bundled with Raptor TV). I also believe they streamed it on their web site live at no cost. Because I watched everything live that I wanted to I did not see the recap shows on the main network, but I believe there were such shows every night at midnight local time. The only coverage by network TV in the US was the three hours on ABC today (when they showed the women's final and the men's short program). Apart from that they had a few hours each day on cable ESPN. The men's final will be shown for the first time in the USA tomorrow on cable only.
  22. Private Person from Toronto, Canada writes: Buttle is great to watch too, because he is emotional and he shows it, whether it's thrills at doing a good performance, thrills at having it recognized, or emotion at singing the anthem. It's great to watch someone with such obvious emotion.

    But I think we should cut Joubert some slack. If he were completely sportsmanlike in defeat, he'd be, well, Canadian instead of...

    Anyway figure skaters all have egos to some extent. Buttle has been known to refer to himself as the 'best'. Not that I'm arguing the point, mind! I guess after yesterday he's entitled.

    What a good day to be a Canadian
  23. Andrea Timmons from Kingston, Ontario, Canada writes: Congratulations Jeffrey Buttle! Many Canadians are very proud of you. Keep your blades on the ice.
  24. Rob C from T.O., Canada writes: Well done! Great news. Everyone should appluad - This must be really rewarding after all the work - and watching other skaters get there in previous years while he waited and kept working at getting better. I am not a skating fan, but I am often forced to watch (for quality family time), so I know this is a big deal....(So, can you do it again in Vancouver?...no pressure)
  25. Robert MacMillan from Waterdown, Canada writes: Nice goin' eh! We're proud of you. Hope you enjoy it, 'cause you earned it!

    Thanks for representing us so well.
  26. Jason Kinney from Canada writes: Joubert played it too safe after seeing all the mistakes made by the previous skaters and assumed he could defeat Buttle with a downgraded program since Buttle does not have a quad and has also had a rather lackluster season.
  27. Rachael .... commenting from .. Hollywood North, Canada writes: Buttle Royale :)
  28. Jane Doe from Canada writes: After Jeff's Olympic bronze, someone left a comment here: 'thank you honey for the goosebumps' - my sentiments exactly.
  29. A Wong from Canada writes: I agree, the CBC bashing has to stop. Their commentating was great (who else but Tracey Wilson would tell us right away that Takahashi's lutz combination didn't count because he'd already used up his quota combination?). Now, if you're talking about the camera work, yes, it was lousy, but I don't think that was the CBC's fault--they were probably just using the host feed, which was probably from a Swedish network.
  30. Bill H from Canada writes: Congratulations, Jeff. and I am so happy to se you take the gold without doing a quad. Elvis really started something with that quad, but it has gotten so out of hand.It should be about the style and grace of a whole program. If they want to have a quad competition, great. But it should be separate.
  31. Craig From Calgary from Canada writes: Congratulations from Calgary Jeff! looks like the country is very proud of you from coast to coast!
  32. aging oldtool from bc, Canada writes: Always wear your heart on your sleeve when you compete Jeff. We just love what it does for you. Of course you know we all expect the same golden performance when the world comes to watch you in Vancouver in 2010.
  33. Hugh Campbell from Canada writes: Joakim Runnedal from Stockholm, Sweden writes: 'Here you can watch Buttle's golden skate:'

    Unfortunately, no ...

    Geolocation-Error

    Due to legal restrictions, the requested material can be viewed only within Sweden. As you are located outside this area, respectively we cannot confirm that you are within this territory, we regret that you will be unable to view this material.
  34. Tim Richards from Canada writes: not so fast Ron.....RON T from Kap, Canada writes: Good job Jeff,
    Not so good Beverley. Jeff is a native of Smooth Rock Falls Ontario..not Sudbury....
    Go to Jeff Buttles OWN website, he lists his hometown as Sudbury. birthpace Smooth Rock Falls...
  35. Eric Putnam from Milton, Ontario, Canada writes: Watch the winning perfomance on cbc online here

    http://www.cbc.ca/sports/player/?mavenplayerId=sportsportalplayer&mavenreferralPlaylistId=a685f99f7262aa92e01c6885f87eba8b2827a704&maven_referralObject=693350666

    Congratulations Jeff, great to see the hard work pay off..
    on to Vancouver in 2010 !!
  36. Rain Couver from Canada writes: Great work Buttle!

    Just goes to show that you don't have to do quads and flips to impress the judges, just skate a program interpreted with artistry and emotion.

    Thanks for accomplishing something that Canadians can be proud of!
  37. Sheila Lanz-Jimenez from San Clemente, United States writes: Congratulations to Jeffrey Buttle. I hope that I will be able to see his performance on Espn today.

    What bothers me is the lack of TV coverage for Figure Skating in the USA. I didn't even know that the World Championships were being held until today, when my husband saw the results in the newspaper. I hardly ever look at the sports section myself. Then they bury the TV coverage somewhere in the afternoon on ESPN, which is mostly known for boring basketball.

    Canadian in CAlif
  38. warren standerwick from North Vancouver, Canada writes: Rain Couver from Canada writes:
    Just goes to show that you don't have to do quads and flips to impress the judges, just skate a program interpreted with artistry and emotion.

    Not quite. If you watched the competition you know that Buttle's jumps (8 triples with three in combination) were technically far superior to the other skaters. The few quads that Joubert, Weir, Takahashi, and Lambiel attempted with various degrees of success were not only not impressive artistically, they were not that impressive technically.

    Joubert actually got a higher mark than Buttle for the 'artistic impression' mark. It is quite wrong to attribute Buttle's win to the superior artistry and emotion of a technically inferior program. The margin of victory made it quite clear this was a complete triumph of artistry and technical skill.
  39. Dorilla St-Pierre from Canada writes: Apparently ABC will be broadcasting the long program to-day at 4:30 ; 5:30 Atlantic.

    Bravo to the Canadian skaters for winning 3 medals in the competition !
  40. Stewart Mawdsley from Fort Smith, NWT, Canada writes: I am more than inclined to bash the CBC - they have always had excellent commentators, and until recently I was a longtime fan of CBC sports. But now only have they gotten rid of some of their best talent (Chris Cuthbert comes to mind, he did the World figure skating championships for years and the Hockey Night in Canada in the same week! - not sorry to see Brian Williams go though, that pompous, senile fool). But to you few who managed to watch the worlds on Country Canada, 90% of the rest of us don't HAVE Country Canada. I have a problem with the CBC using public funds to broadcast a major sporting event on their speciality channel - the Worlds are typically broadcast primtime on regular CBC and draw millions of viewers, esepcially would have this week with Canadians doing so well.
    -
    -
    -
    Just like the curling fiasco last year, and now the Canadian Curling Association will never let CBC show the Scottie or the Brier again.
  41. Jason Kinney from Canada writes: CBC spend millions on shows such as MVP and The Border only to cancel them a few months later due to mediocre ratings yet won't show the skating competition which is guaranteed to bring in millions of viewers and ad $$$ until midnight. Where are their priorities and who's running the show, Harper appointees?
  42. Carla Smith from London, Canada writes: I was so proud to see how Jeffrey conducted himself throughout the worlds -- he demonstrated the quality of his skating and the quality of his character! I would have been proud if he had even finished 10th with the way that he skated, but the gold medal is mighty sweet icing on top of the cake! Way to go!

    And while I did have issue with the times at which much of the CBC coverage was aired, I do appreciate the depth of the coverage and also the excellent commentary provided by Kurt Browning and Tracy Wilson. My american friends were left scratching their heads trying to understand the scoring results after watching the ABC commentary in comparison.

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