Although he decided last autumn not to try for another shot at Olympic glory, 2008 world men's champion, three-time Canadian champion and reigning Olympic bronze medalist Jeffrey Buttle has stayed actively engaged with the Canadian national team. He recently attended the national team training camp in Vancouver, where he answered questions from any of the skaters who wanted his insight into Olympic preparation."Everyone asks, 'Are you disappointed you won't be competing in Vancouver?' Absolutely not. I'm so happy with the decision I made, but I'm also Canadian, so I feel an immense amount of pride and excitement that the Olympics are going to be in Canada," Buttle says.
"When I was in Vancouver, I could feel a bit of the energy and was able to see the Olympic village," he adds. "It was just so exciting."
During the training camp he spoke one-on-one with several of the skaters, sharing his thoughts on the Olympic experience.
"There are only a couple of skaters potentially on the team that have actually been to the Olympics," Buttle says. "I think it was important for me to be at the training camp. Not really force on them my opinions or what I think, but informally have conversations to ask them how they're doing. I have been through it and I can share with them my awful days leading up to it and how I dealt with it.
"I thought speaking with them one-on-one was the best way. I didn't want to lecture them or anything like that."
As of now, Buttle, 27, knows he'll be performing a couple of shows during the Games at the GE rink, an outdoor rink in the Olympic village. He plans to stay around town and hopes to have a gig blogging for a media outlet.
His own skating season is already in full swing. He'll be competing at the Japan Open on Oct. 3. Prior to that, on Sept. 25, a coffee table book about him will be published in Japan titled Jeffrey Buttle Artist Book: Chapter TWO." The book features photographs from an elaborate and somewhat off beat photo shoot done in Japan in July.
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