Stéphane Lambiel: Guiding the next generation with vision
Stéphane Lambiel: Guiding the next generation with vision
Stéphane Lambiel—Olympic silver medalist, two-time world champion, and one of figure skating’s most celebrated artists—has left an unmistakable mark on the sport. Now, as a revered coach and choreographer, he continues shaping the future of skating with the same passion that defined his competitive career.
During his visit to the 2025 Warsaw Cup with promising protégé Ean Weiler, Lambiel spoke about coaching philosophy, creativity, skating’s new generation, and his memories from nearly two decades with Art on Ice.
First Impressions of Warsaw
Although he has visited Poland before, this was Lambiel’s first time at the Warsaw Challenger event as a coach—and the experience made an impact. Half-jokingly calling himself “surprised,” he remarked on the rink’s energy, the warm welcome, and the contrast between Warsaw’s buzzing center and its quieter districts.
“I’m very impressed with the rink,” he said. “I’m very impressed with the organization and I’m surprised that there actually is a lot of people watching the competition.”
“I spent a little bit of time in town and walking in this part,” he added. “It’s quieter, but then when you go to the center with all the high towers, it’s very active. I mean, it’s very different from Champéry, so it’s such a nice change of atmosphere. I enjoyed it very much. I feel a lot of history, also.”
Lambiel also noted that both he and Ean had enjoyed Poland already this season after attending the Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk, adding that the culture and food left “great memories.”
Watching Ean Weiler Grow
As a coach, Lambiel beams with pride when discussing his student’s development. He emphasized how valuable international competitions are for young skaters learning to understand themselves under pressure.
Lambiel described Ean as a motivated athlete who is still growing into his expressive side, and whose potential is far from reaching its peak.
“I’m super happy with his evolution,” said Lambiel. “He’s a hard worker. He’s very self-aware of what he wants, what he needs, and how to make it. I think this kind of experience is very valuable for him because he is 18, but I feel that he needs a few more kilometers in his system to understand how he functions.”
“He has such a great and bright personality, as well as very artistic and musical,” he added. “But right now I still see that he’s not sure about showing it,” he added. “The day he will really own his full potential is going to be great!”
Guiding a New Generation of Skaters
While Lambiel has a group of very young skaters in his school, he refuses to compare today’s young athletes to his own past. To him, coaching means understanding each skater individually—their story, their needs, and how best to support them.
“We all have a story and I’m happy to be part of their story and I’m happy to help them to evolve as a skater, as a person,” said Lambiel. “You need to take so many things into consideration, to allow them to be disciplined, but to also allow them to have pleasure in this discipline so that when they look back at their skating career, it will taste good. That the memory will remain a positive memory. And for that, we need to create a path for them that has a healthy environment.”
Using the metaphor, Lambiel said he is just a “copilot;” that he gives them direction, but that the wheel is in their heads, and the final decision is theirs to make.
“I can teach them a lot of things, but in the end, they need to know where they want to go and they will know how to do it,” he said. “To take a little bit of responsibility, also. I think that’s the key to my teaching.”
Choreography: Where Imagination Meets the Ice
Lambiel’s creative process, as always, is deeply intuitive. He often scrolls through music in spare moments, letting images form spontaneously. Sometimes, a melody instantly conjures a skater; other times, he compiles playlists and experiments with options until something “clicks.”
“Every time I hear the music, there is an image that is created in my head, and I think, ‘My god, this music matches perfectly to that personality or that skater,'” he explained.
Lambiel explained it’s a very random way of doing it.
“Like, maybe in one hour I will be bored, and I will just start listening to music and just put the music into playlists,” he shared. “And then you come on the ice and there is this moment where you’re like, ‘Okay, so what do we do?’ And then we go through a little bit of options from those playlists and then we’re like, ‘This. Right now, you’re ripe enough for that piece. Let’s go for that.’ And you feel immediately when it’s coming together or when it’s not.”
Art on Ice: A Chapter Filled with Inspiration
Seventeen years with Art on Ice gave Lambiel memories he still treasures. He recalled the very first number that struck him—a poetic aerial-skater piece set to Gotthard—which became his enduring first image of the show.
“It was so powerful and it’s kind of the first image of Art On Ice that I have as it was my first show,” he recalled. “After that, I did 17 years of that show, and it was an incredible experience to be able to see so many artists.”
Lambiel showed it to Weiler while they watched the performances of other skaters.
“There was also the music of Dias Jirenbayev from Kazakhstan, and I skated to that piece, the “Prelude” by Rachmaninov, played for Art On Ice. It was played by the Chinese pianist Lang Lang a long, long time ago.”
Throughout all those years performing with Art On Ice, Lambiel had the opportunity to meet many incredible artists that inspired him.
“Yesterday, I watched a Tom Odell concert on YouTube,” Lambiel reflected. “He was playing in one of the museums, and I got to skate with him also in Art On Ice. Just watching what he’s doing and how he’s evolving and thinking about those days when I was skating to ‘Sense.’ It was my favorite number to skate, and every time I was going on the ice, performing with him, I felt so happy and so excited. There was so much joy to be on the ice and to feel the notes that he was playing on the piano. That’s why I love to choreograph. I just love this part of figure skating.”
Where He Fits Among Today’s Skaters
When asked how he’d place in modern competition, Lambiel laughed off the question. To him, the heart of skating is not technical armory, but authenticity. While he respects the sport’s athletic evolution, artistry—and individuality—remain his compass.
“I think we have so many fantastic personalities out there, female, male skaters,” he said. “I love Ice Dance. I just love to discover what the skater has to offer. And I think when they perform, you see who they are, and I love to discover that. For me, the most important thing about our sport is to see the personalities. I don’t care how many times they’re going to turn in the air, in their spins or which difficult variation they do. But I really want to see who they are. This is what makes this sport interesting.”
A Coach Shaping Skating’s Future
Lambiel’s impact now extends far beyond his own competitive legacy. Through his thoughtful coaching, deeply human approach, and boundless creativity, he is shaping a generation of skaters who value craft, expression, and self-knowledge.
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