They came, they skated, they conquered. Two gifted athletes from opposite corners of the planet fulfilled their golden dreams in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

Asada had thought the gold medal had slipped through her fingers after falling on her opening triple Axel in the long program. But when the final results were posted on the overhead scoreboard in the Scandinavium Arena, the young Japanese phenom flashed a brilliant smile that was beamed around the world. First place. World champion.

Buttle could barely believe what he was seeing and hearing as he sat in the kiss and cry after his free skating performance at the 2008 World Championships. Staring at the scoreboard he vaguely heard his marks announced. His eyes were riveted to the scoreboard, which said it all. First place. World champion.

ASADA’S WINNING WAYS

Winning is what Asada has always been about. Since she began competing in the junior ranks, she has been a force to contend with on the international circuit.

The 2007 World Championships in her Japanese homeland, where Asada placed second, were a revelation for the bubbly teenager. “It was the first time I realized I could become the World champion,” she said. “Last year, when I came in second at Worlds I realized that I wanted to be first.”

And so it was that Asada headed into the 2008 World Championships in Sweden with one goal in mind. “This year I wanted to win but I did not know if I could or not,” she said.

But her golden dream had a couple of minor hiccups. In second place after the short, Asada lost control on the opening triple Axel at the very beginning of her free skate. After careening across the ice into the boards she said she believed she had no chance of winning the gold medal.

“I thought I could do the jump but I think I lost my edge. I was just surprised, not afraid after the fall,” Asada said. “I just thought I missed the gold medal. So after I checked my body I just concentrated on my program.”

Asada was down but not out. She attacked the remainder of her program with an abandon that had the crowd roaring long before the last note of her music died. “I was determined to be perfect even without the Axel,” the 17-year-old stated with quiet confidence.

Sitting in the kiss and cry waiting for her marks, Asada said she had no idea where she had placed. “When the marks came up, I saw I was in second place in the free skate so I thought I was going to be second,” she said. “But then the final results came up and I saw I was in first. I was like, ‘Wow!’ After the fall it was a big surprise to win.”

Buttle, a former training mate of Asada, said he was not surprised. “Honestly, when she took the fall on the Axel I was shocked,” he said. “That is a freak thing — it does not really happen to her. But she got up and kept going and I thought, ‘She is going to do it.’ If there is anyone who is mentally strong, it is Mao.”

REWIND

She could easily have become a ballerina after her mother enrolled her in classes at age 3. But that was not the stage Asada was destined to shine on.

A couple of years later when her older sister Mai enrolled in skating classes, Mao tagged along. As the younger sibling, she did everything her sister did.

The two-time Japanese champion said she loved skating from the very beginning. Identified as a talent while still a child, Asada started taking lessons from famed Japanese coach Machiko Yamada.

The charming young woman does not remember the first event she ever won but recalled that she placed eighth at her first competition.

As Asada rose through the junior ranks her talent and technical ability were recognized internationally. At age 12 she executed the first triple-triple-triple combination (triple flip-triple loop-triple toe loop) in competition.

The Nagoya native made history when she landed two triple Axels during the free skate at her national championships in 2005 and again at the World Junior Championships in 2006 when she landed a triple Axel in the short program. 

A NEW START

Asada went to 2008 Worlds without a coach after splitting with U.S. coach Rafael Arutunian, with whom she had worked for two years.

“I really liked training in America,” Asada said, smiling brightly. “Two years ago when I went to Los Angeles there were no ice rinks in Nagoya and I had to always take private ice. That is why I went to the U.S. in the first place. But last year a new ice rink opened near my home, so now I don’t need to train outside of Japan.”

Buttle, who trained alongside Asada on and off for two years, said she was an inspiration to him. “She works really hard and she is so consistent,” he said. “Our training approaches are so different. She would be on the ice for maybe six hours sometimes versus my three. So I started to increase my hours on the ice. It was so good for me.”

There is another reason Asada is happy to be residing in Japan once again. Her 3-year-old toy poodle Aero gave birth to two female puppies, which Asada named Tiara and Komachi, last December.

While competing at the Grand Prix Final, Asada received a call from her mother telling her that Aero was about to give birth. “Before the free program Aero was trying to have her babies and so I said I will also have to do my best,” she said with laughter. “I am so happy that I can be relaxed at home with my puppies now.”

Too young to compete at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Asada is looking to make her mark in 2010. “I don’t know if it is possible but I want to be the Olympic champion,” Asada shyly admitted. “I am not sure, but maybe I will continue on to 2014. I want to compete as long as I can. I just love to skate.”

BUTTLE’S STUNNING VICTORY

Twenty-four hours after claiming the World title, Buttle was still trying to absorb the enormity of what he had achieved.

He described winning Canada’s first World men’s title in 11 years as crazy. “Everyone keeps calling me Mr. World Champion. I like it but I don’t even know how to react,” Buttle admitted. “I don’t think I have really had time to just soak it all in.”

Since childhood he had dreamed of winning the World title but when the moment came the engaging young man was totally unprepared. “There were times when I thought that it was good that I had such a high goal and to have such a dream,” he said. “But it is crazy that I have done it. It was so unexpected. It is really overwhelming.”

The road to the top of the World podium was not paved with gold for Buttle this past season. He did not skate well at Skate Canada, his first Grand Prix event, where he placed third. “I was pretty disappointed with that competition, especially my short,” he said.

He placed fourth at his second event, Cup of Russia, and failed to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. “I had another really bad short program in Moscow but the long program was a turning point for me,” he said. “I felt like I attacked my jumps a lot more and I was way more successful.”

Lee Barkell, who has coached Buttle since the skater was 8 years old, said he saw a renewed spark in his student at Cup of Russia. “I think for me watching as a coach, I saw change in the free program in Moscow,” Barkell recalled. “Jeff started to look like he was getting back into his comfort zone again.”

Buttle said his problems began last fall when his focus became one-dimensional. Haunted by jumping issues, Buttle focused solely on perfecting his technique and let everything else slide. “I have been criticized for my lack of consistency so I just wanted to focus my attention on that. I thought that would help but it didn’t,” Buttle said. “It is one thing to be focused and another to be so focused that you can’t see the big picture.

“I basically isolated myself from the artistic side of my skating altogether and that is not good for me because of the kind of skater that I am,” Buttle said. “I am a creative skater. I strive to push myself in that sense and when I started to think about that and bring that back into my training, it made my training a lot more uplifting.”

Barkell took it all in stride. “I am always a believer — everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Certainly Jeff had some doubts at the beginning of the season and that made him reassess what he was doing. So Jeff winning here [at Worlds] is pretty incredible, given the way the season started off.”

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Buttle took a new approach to his preparation for nationals last January. “We altered my training,” he said. “We focused on doing a lot of run-throughs and everything started to change.”

Despite finishing second, Buttle was happy with how nationals went. “I had a couple of mistakes in the long program but I felt over top of myself,” he said. “I felt like I was in control of my body. Four Continents was a step up from nationals and here [in Sweden], well, it is where I wanted to peak and I definitely did.”

Buttle headed into the World Championships with a new perspective. “I promised myself I would not get focused on results or anything like that,” he said. “I did not watch anyone else practice. I didn’t know how anyone else was skating. I was just concentrating on how I felt and how I was skating. That is something I need to keep doing.”

Winning the short program did not alter his mindset. “After the short I was thinking tomorrow is a new day. The points are all very close. I did not really put much stress on myself by the fact that I was in first place because that does not really mean anything. I went into the long thinking ‘new day, same perspective.’”

Buttle drew to skate last in the long program, a position which had not been his favorite in the past. “I made a joke about it to Jeff and he just laughed and said, ‘I’ve got a whole new perspective on it,’” Barkell said. “So I knew he was feeling good.”

As Buttle finished his free program the last thing on his mind was a medal.

“I just thought, ‘Thank God I put down that skate when it really counted. The last skater in the competition and I did it.’ I was really proud of myself,” he said.

But minutes later sitting in the kiss and cry Buttle put it all into context. “I asked Lee if he thought it was enough [for a medal] and Lee said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ Then I said I was so happy I was going to win a medal and Lee said, ‘I think it was enough for the gold medal.’ I was just blown away.”

Buttle said his victory has given him a new inspiration to master the quad. “I have always been critiqued for not having the quad,” he said, “but now I think, ‘Oh my gosh, look what I have accomplished without it. Just think of how competitive I could be with one.’ That is the mentality I am going to run with.”

Barkell said he always believed Buttle could be the best in the world. “I always knew deep down if he could put down two solid programs he could be the World champion,” Barkell said. “It felt amazing to see him stand on the top of the podium.”

Describing his coach as his rock, Buttle said he was so proud to have Barkell with him in Sweden. “After the results I got a hug out of him,” Buttle said. “We [his students] jokingly say, ‘Wow, you really know you have done well when Lee gives you a hug.’”

Buttle had no time to rest on his laurels. A few days after his return from Sweden, he was preparing new show programs for the Stars on Ice tour. “Skating on Stars is my reward for the season,” Buttle said. “I get to go on tour with good friends and idols of mine. It is just a blast.”

After falling on her opening jump in the long program, Mao Asada thought she had lost the gold medal.

A strong short program and a stunning free skate ensured Jeffrey Buttle the gold medal.

Mao Asada said she is happy to be back in Japan so she can be with her three toy poodles.

It was a lifelong dream come true for Jeffrey Buttle when he claimed his first World title.