Stephane Lambiel

Lambiel began skating when he was seven in Saxon, Switzerland, following in his sister's footsteps. His mother wanted him to play hockey but he was more interested in jumping. Around 1995, Lambiel began training in Geneva, coached by Peter Grütter. When ice was unavailable in Geneva, generally from April to June, he trained in Germany, sometimes in Oberstdorf. Salomé Brunner became his main choreographer in 1996.

Lambiel was born in Martigny, Valais, and grew up in Saxon, Switzerland. His mother is originally from Lisbon, Portugal, and his father is from Isérables, Switzerland. He has a sister, Silvia (born in 1982), and a brother, Christophe (born in 1989). His parents divorced in 1999. Lambiel lives in Lausanne, Switzerland and received his "maturité" (matura) in biology and chemistry in June 2004.

Lambiel landed his first triple toe loop at age ten. As the novice national champion of Switzerland, he performed in the gala at the 1997 World Championships, held in Lausanne. He won the junior national champion for the next two years and spent three years on the junior Grand Prix circuit, winning two medals during this time. Due to the high cost of a season (100,000 Swiss francs), his village created a fan club to help raise funds after his parents' divorce in 1999. Lambiel won his first senior national title in the 2001 season, aged 15. He made his senior debut at the 2001 Europeans, finishing ninth, and was fifth at the 2001 World Junior Championships.

Lambiel underwent knee surgery in November 2002. He placed fifth at the 2003 European Championships and moved up to tenth at Worlds. In the 2003-2004 season, he was sixth at the 2004 European Championships and fourth at the 2004 World Championships.

In autumn 2004, Lambiel underwent an operation on the meniscus in his left knee. Around October, he began training in Lausanne, coached by Cédric Monod. Majda and Jean-Sébastien Scharl became his physical trainers in November 2004.

In 2007, Lambiel finished 3rd at the Cup of China and 2nd at the Cup of Russia, qualifying him for the Grand Prix Final. He won the event for a second time in his career with 239.10 points, only 0.16 points ahead of Daisuke Takahashi.

Lambiel has many sponsors in Switzerland. In 2007, he designed a Swiss watch called the Spin Master. Lambiel's sponsors included Ford Motor Company, Hublot and Swisscom. In 2007, he appeared in a TV commercial for Fuji Xerox in Japan and Swiss Farmers Union's campaign. He voiced himself for a cameo appearance in the 2016 figure skating anime series Yuri on Ice.

At the 2008 European Championships in Zagreb, Lambiel had a disappointing short program, falling on his triple Axel and managing only a triple toe loop-double loop combination; he placed 4th. He finished 2nd in the long program after landing a quadruple toe loop-double toe loop-double loop combination and earning 80 points in program components score for his Flamenco program, a very high score at that time. He won his second European silver medal, behind Czech Tomáš Verner.

At the 2008 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Lambiel fell on his triple Axel and put his hand down on a quadruple toe loop in the short program, leaving him in fifth place going into the free skate. In the free skate, he stepped out of his triple Axel attempt, put his hand down again on the quadruple toe loop in his combination, and then stepped out of his solo quadruple toe loop. He finished in fifth place overall.

Lambiel was scheduled to compete at Grand Prix events in Canada and France but withdrew from both events. He announced his retirement from competitive skating on 16 October 2008, citing an injury to the adductor muscle in one of his thighs. He said, "It's seven months that I've been going to see the best doctors. I still have the pain and it's really not possible to train like that. I didn't have the ability to reach my objectives." He performed in many shows in Switzerland, France, Italy, South Korea and Japan, as well as the Canadian Stars on Ice tour.

In a 2008 interview, Alexei Mishin called him an "outstanding artist and spins genius" and added that his retirement was an "immense loss". According to Mishin, Lambiel was "strangled by the modern figure skating regulations".

Unlike most figure skaters, Lambiel can spin and jump in both counter-clockwise and clock-wise directions. He is able to do successive double Axels, changing his rotation direction between each one, but stopped training it. Lambiel had recurring injuries in both his knees, requiring him to miss exhibitions and training time, but his problems were resolved in 2009. He assisted in designing his own costumes.

On 25 July 2009, Lambiel announced that he would return to competitive skating and try to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Although his training was still slightly affected, he said the injury was under control. He rejoined Peter Grütter in Switzerland.

Lambiel won his ninth national title at the 2010 Swiss Championships. He placed first in both the short program and the free skate to win the gold medal with a total of 244.23 points, 44.78 ahead of Jamal Othman. He then competed in the 2010 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, where he placed fifth in the short program with 77.75 points, after having problems with his quadruple toe-loop. He rebounded in the free skate, earning 160.79 points to win the silver medal. His program components score of 85.00 was the highest of the night. Overall, he scored 238.54 points, 16.85 behind Evgeni Plushenko.

A day after the long program, Lambiel announced that he had long intended to sit out the 2010 World Championships. On 9 March 2010, he announced his retirement from competition.

Lambiel competed in a new ABC skating series, Thin Ice, which aired on 19 March 2010, after announcing his retirement from competition on 9 March 2010. He was paired with Shizuka Arakawa, and the two finished third, winning a total of $45,000. They skated to "Get Me Bodied" by Beyoncé and "Magic" by Robin Thicke. As a result of his participation in the show, he lost his ISU eligibility. After negotiations, the ISU allowed him to perform in the exhibition gala at the 2011 European Championships in Switzerland.

Around 2011, Lambiel also started coaching. In 2014, he founded Skating School of Switzerland in Champéry. In an interview, he acknowledged the influence of Peter Grütter and Jacques Gerschwiler as skating coaches.

Lambiel had been the headliner of the ice show Art on Ice. It is most often held in Lausanne and Zurich, Switzerland. He skated a duet with Carolina Kostner in 2012. In 2019, he announced that this year was his last appearance at Art on Ice after 17 years of participation.

In 2014, he produced his own show, Ice Legends, to honor the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Switzerland.