There was great disappointment that twice Canadian champion, 2005 world silver medalist and Olympic bronze winner Jeff Buttle pulled out on October 16. He said he had a mid-to-lower spine stress fracture, which was diagnosed in mid-August. He said he believed the injury was caused by overtraining. He said his summer had gone really well and his jumps were getting higher. After the injury, he consulted with Kurt Browning who had had a similar injury in 1992. He said he is very frustrated at not competing. "But my priority is to get back to good health for the main part of the season." He did not want to further aggravate the situation.

What a shock! Stephen Lambiel lies only seventh of the eleven men after the short program. He and fellow Swiss Jamal Othman, who lies last, were tied with the lowest technical scores, 30.40. Lambiel was held up on the component score. He received the second highest in this section, only 1.05 behind the current leader, Daisuke Takahashi.

When you are twice world champion and Olympic silver medalist, people get excited and pay money to see you, and they were very disappointed. If this had been a soccer crowd instead of a very concerned bunch of mostly gray-haired ladies of a certain age, he might have got pelted. His trip to Victoria began badly when his skates did not arrive till a day after he did. He debuted a routine to a selection of music by Christine Lauterburg and the handsome 21 year old must have thought he was in the middle of a nightmare.

His triple Axel is a jump he is always least comfortable with. In the warm-up it obviously was "off". He doubled it and then fell on the quad toe which he planned to combine with a triple toe. The serpentine step sequence used many unique body positions – very modern dance-y. It, and the later straight line sequence, gained Level 3. His triple Lutz was fine. Both his change foot sit spin and flying sit got Level 4. But then on his final move he got no marks. He splattered flat out on his stomach going into the change foot combination spin.

"I can’t give you a reason it happened," said Lambiel, who is a huge celebrity in his country. "I hope I can do better tomorrow. It’s always difficult to start the season. I was a little bit nervous. After the double (Axel), I couldn’t feel my legs for the quad. But after (the fall) I was feeling great in the steps and the spins. I don’t know at the end. I think I took too much speed. Today, I learned something."

Daisuke Takahashi, skating to Tchaikovsky’s famous Violin Concerto, took first place with a margin of 2.52 over the U.S. champion Johnny Weir. One enthusiast, posting on fsuniverse.net under the name, Ladynit, wrote that his costume "looks like he had an encounter with a gigantic jellyfish and won the contest. It is THE BEST use of chiffon ever. There is something about the way the fabric is gathered at the shoulders that makes it catch the air and balloon out in very curvy shapes. No ragged look for Daisuke. He appears to be trailing through a cloud."

Takahashi, who was eighth in the Olympics while Weir was fifth, got positive Grade of Executions (GoEs) for all but his triple Axel on which he had to strain to hold the landing. His combination was triple flip to triple toe. He received only one Level 4, for the change foot combination spin. The flying sit was a Level 3 and the last spin only a Level 2. The step sequences were Level 3. It was a personal best though just by a small amount. The Japanese champion, who is only 20, looked like he is really determined to match his countryman Nobunari Oda’s victory in Skate America. The two have an intense rivalry. There was only one place on the Olympic team and, in the national championships, there was an equipment misunderstanding. Oda was initially presented with the gold but later had to give it back and it was presented to Takahashi in an empty stadium. Takahashi went to the Olympics and Oda to worlds, where he finished fourth.

Johnny Weir, the three time US champion, showed off this routine more aggressively in the Cincinnati made-for-television competition three weeks ago, executing it better than here. There is no doubt from his black and white outfit that he is a Chess piece, presumably the King. It was choreographed by Marina Anissina, the 2002 Olympic ice dance gold medalist, who has become a great friend of his. She worked with him while they were both on the Champions on Ice tour. "I think it shows a different side of me," said the 22 year old.

His costume won the Sponsor’s fan vote. Each day, Home Sense put fliers in the program which allows fans to vote for their choice. Weir won Friday’s vote by a good margin. The fan wins a $100 voucher from Home Sense.

Weir’s initial move, a triple Axel soared over the ice and was so beautifully landed, it received a GoE of +1.20. The following combination, triple Lutz-triple toe, and the triple flip also received positive though lesser GoEs. Two of his spins got Level 4 but he had problems on the Level 3 change foot combination spin. His speed died toward the end and he barely hung on.

"Spins – forget them!," he declared afterwards, feigning anger but smiling. "I would never, ever do any of the spins. I feel like they’re ugly. They take away a chance to be different. They take too long. They’re too difficult. I get so tired doing the spins that I have missed jumps after them. I want to show beautiful, clean skating. I don’t like to see all the elements packed together. I think it’s a nuisance having spins with so many rotations, so many edge changes with difficult entries and "unique" features. It’s almost inhumane to make us do things like this."

The unheralded Tomas Verner, a 20 year old from the Czech Republic, who was 18^th in the Olympics and 13^th in the Calgary worlds, took an unexpected third, 4.98 marks behind Weir. He performed to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue. This is music that has been used by many skaters. Verner said he was well aware of that and his flamboyant costuming was meant to parody those so-serious performances. He wore black pants and deliberately teamed a shocking pink shirt with a wildly clashing green shoulder attachment. All of his moves, except the triple Axel for which he received -1.0 GoE, gained positives and he had Level 4 on two of his three spins. The other spin was Level 3. Both footwork sequences were Level 2. Verner trains partly in his country’s capital, Prague, and partly in Germany in Oberstdorf where he recently won the Nebelhorn Trophy accomplishing a quad toe. He accomplished a personal best. Asked if he expects to win a medal, he laughed. "It would be wonderful to beat the world champion but I don’t think it is a realistic hope."

In fourth place, 2.25 points behind Verner, is Yannick Ponsero of France, who also gained a Personal Best. His first move, a triple Axel, was good. He was the only competitor to get credit for a quad (toe loop) which he combined with a double toe loop. However, he did it with a double three turn between the jumps and got eight -1 GoEs, one -2 and one -3. He also received all but one -2s for his triple Lutz on which he put both hands on the ice. (The remaining judge punched in -1). Ponsero, who won the bronze in the 2006 world junior championship, turned 20 on October 17. He trains in Annecy in France with Didier Lucine. He skated to a remix by Maxime Rodrigues of I’m in the Mood for Love.

Vaughn Chipeur, a 21 year old from Lloydminster, SK, is lying fifth, 1.81 behind very Ponsero, who has a lot of international experience. He is only 0.49 ahead of his teammate, Shawn Sawyer. He learned only two weeks prior to this event that he was the replacement for Buttle and would take part in his first Senior Grand Prix. "I got an e-mail from Scott (Davis), my coach, saying to pack my bags and I thought, ‘Yeah – right – it’s a joke.’ But I’m just delighted it was true." He was only 16^th in the 2006 Canadian championship after being 11^th the year before. That reversal spurred him to change coaches six months ago. In October he won the bronze medal in Germany in the Nebelhorn Trophy. "I was nervous," said Chipeur about his debut at this level, "But when I stepped on the ice, I felt good. It all comes down to how well you are trained." All of his elements got base level or higher and he received Level 4 for two of his spins. He skated to Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters by Metallica.

Shawn Sawyer, a 21 year old who trains with Annie Barabe, lies 2.30 points above Lambiel, in sixth place. Sawyer has been ranked third in Canada for the past two years. He had a high when he finished 12^th at the Olympics quickly followed by a low when he was only 21^st in the Calgary worlds after suffering from home country expectations. Here in Victoria, he landed his triple Axel on two feet and fell on his triple Lutz. The routine, to The Big One is well conceived and the crowd really got behind him on the last two elements, Level 4 spins.

Marc Andre Craig from Saint Hubert in Quebec turned 24 on October 21. He performed to two versions of Sway to gain eighth place, 3.12 points behind Lambiel. He is ranked fourth in Canada and was fourth in the 2006 Four Continents Championships. He received a -1.0 GoE after barely hanging on to his triple Axel. His triple Lutz also was saddled with a -1.0 GoE. He was awarded only one Level 4, change foot sit spin, but it got a slight negative (-0.12). He lies 2.98 marks ahead of Sergei Voronov.

Sergei Voronov ranks sixth in Russia. He turned 19 on October 3 and was the runner-up for this year’s world junior title. He was competing in back to back Grand Prixs and placed seventh in Skate America last week. Voronov was born in Moscow and was taught by Rafael Arutunian until that coach departed for the United States. He is now trained in St. Petersburg by the 1994 Olympic champion, Alexei Urmanov. Although he lies only ninth, he gained a personal best score. He used Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2. His combination, triple flip to double toe received a slight negative. He turned out of his triple Axel and was given -1.0 GoE. He also got a -1.0 for his triple loop. He received one Level 4 – for his change foot combination spin.

Only 0.10 behind Voronov in tenth place is Geoffry Varner, who had to skate first and looked a little over-awed competing in his first Senior Grand Prix. He gave a spirited showing to Zorba, the Greek. He is trained by Barbara Roles Williams in Newark, Delaware. In 2005 he won the bronze in the Junior Grand Prix Final. He had minor errors on four of the elements. His combination was triple Lutz to triple toe but he did "only" a double Axel. He received one Level 4 which was awarded for his change foot sit spin.

Jamal Othmann of Switzerland lies only 0.85 behind Varner. The 20 year old, who is trained by Jacqueline Kiefer in Bern, performed to Saint-Saens Dance Macabre. None of his elements received a negative and he had one Level 4 for a spin but his combination was only triple Lutz to double toe loop and he did a double Axel. He was 27^th in the Olympic Games and 28^th in the Calgary Worlds.