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stephane-14

Biography

Family

Stéphane Lambiel was born on the 2nd of April 1985 in Martigny (Switzerland). He is an aries.

His father, Jacques, is Swiss and his mother, Fernanda, Portuguese (originally from Lisbon). He has a younger brother, Christophe, born in 1989 as well as an older sister, Silvia, born in 1982. The family lived in Saxon, where Stéphane spent most of his childhood and youth.

His parents separated and, after gaining his Matura in 2004 from the high school St. Maurice in biology and chemistry, he moved to Lausanne with a school friend. His mother still lives in Saxon and his grandmother in Portugal, where he visits her often.

Career

In 1992 he caught the figure skating bug from his sister. His interest in it grew and when his mother tried to push him towards ice hockey he gave her an ultimatum : either figure skating or nothing. Soon a trainer was found and as there was instant harmony and success was immediate that same coach, Peter Grütter, still trains him today. In addition to attending school he had to commute daily between Saxon and Geneva and managed to handle it all successfully.

Since then he has developed into the most expressive figure skater in the world with some self-choreographed programmes that his choreographer, Salomé Brunner, supports him with and helps him perfect. Stéphane's trademark are his spins, the fastest and most original in the world, which have earned him the nickname „spin-master".

Competitions

In 1998 he took part in his first Junior World Championships. That year he was first at the Swiss national championships and eighth at both the Grand Prix in France as well as in China. He has managed to successfully defend his Swiss national title ever since. At the European Championships he has finished in the top ten every time he has competed since 2001 and he won the silver medal in 2006 and 2008.

He has been more successful at the World Championships, where he was crowned with the title in Moscow in 2005 and in Calgary in 2006. He also won the bronze medal in Tokyo in 2007. He finished 15th at his first Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 but managed to win the silver in 2006 in Turin, his greatest success to date, despite his injuries.

After the World Championships in Gothenburg in 2008, which resulted in a disappointing fifth place finish for him, he decided to take action and changed both his coach as well as his training location. He moved to Wayne, a city close to New York, and trained there for three months under the guidance of Viktor Petrenko. The experiment did not bear fruit however.

In October 2008 he announced his retirement from competitive skating as a result of a persistent adductor injury he had first suffered at the World Championships in Gothenburg.
He remained part of the figure skating scene however, participating in numerous shows and galas, where, free from the limitations of competition, he has been able to perform beautiful programmes that allow him to express his passion.

Almost one year after his retirement he announced his comeback to competition in the hope of fulfilling his great dream of winning an Olympic gold medal. He is again being trained by Peter Grütter.

Sources

Translation by Monique (Queuey), thank you!

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