He is a two-time β World champion, the Olympic silver medalist, a two-time , Grand Prix Final champion, and a nine-time β08, Swiss national champion. Lambiel is known for his spins and is credited with popularizing some spin positions. Lambiel was born in Martigny , Valais , and grew up in Saxon, Switzerland. Unlike most figure skaters, Lambiel can spin and jump in both counter-clockwise and clock-wise directions. Lambiel began skating when he was seven in Saxon, Switzerland , following in his sister's footsteps.
Lambiel landed his first triple toe loop at age ten. Due to the high cost of a season , Swiss francs , his village created a fan club to help raise funds after his parents' divorce in He made his senior debut at the Europeans , finishing ninth, and was fifth at the World Junior Championships. The Swiss skating federation told him that they would send him to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City if he placed in the top twelve at the European Championships. Lambiel placed fourth and was sent to the Olympics, where he finished 15th.
He was 18th at the Worlds. Lambiel underwent knee surgery in November In the β season, he was sixth at the European Championships and fourth at the World Championships.
In autumn , Lambiel underwent an operation on the meniscus in his left knee. At the World Championships , held in Moscow , Russia , Lambiel was ahead of Evgeni Plushenko after the qualifying round and short program.
Plushenko then withdrew from the competition with an injury. Skating to the King Arthur soundtrack in the long program, Lambiel landed two quadruple toe loops and gave an overall strong performance to win his first World championship; it was also his first medal at an ISU championship.
