Six people with the Butler surname have participated in the Winter Olympic Games:
- Robert “Bobby” Butler (USA, Ice Hockey, 2018 Games)
- Carole Anne Ormaca Butler (USA, Pair Skating, 1956 Games)
- Charles Thomas “Tom” Butler (USA, Bobsleigh, 1956 Games)
- Charles Butler (USA, Figure Skating, 1998 Games)
- Gweneth Leigh Butler (GBR, Figure Skating, 1936 Games)
- Lois Reid Butler (CAN, Alpine Skiing, 1936 Games)
The 2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4–20, 2022. Olympians will compete in 15 sports: Alpine Skiing; Biathlon; Bobsleigh; Cross-Country Skiing; Curling; Figure Skating; Freestyle Skiing; Ice Hockey; Luge; Nordic Combined; Short Track Speed; Skating; Skeleton; Ski Jumping; Snowboard; and Speed Skating.
While no Butlers will compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics, six people with the Butler surname have participated in previous Olympic Winter Games. These are their stories.
Robert “Bobby” Butler (b. 1987)
Bobby was a member of the USA ice hockey team in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Team USA finished in 7th place.
Even though Bobby played for a number of teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) including the Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers, his journey to the Olympics reads like a Cinderella story.
In 2018, the NHL decided that professional players couldn’t compete in that year’s Winter Olympics. They would, however, allow minor league players to compete.
Bobby, five years removed from the NHL and desperately wanting a chance to play for Team USA, decided to put feelers out to minor league teams that might be interested in his services in the hope of becoming eligible for Olympic consideration.
One minor league team, the Milwaukee Admirals, decided to give Bobby a chance. He repaid them by leading the team in goals and points through the early part of that year’s season. His long-shot paid off with a roster spot on the Olympic team.
A film crew captured the moment Bobby told his father that he was going to the Olympics. A video showing the father-son moment went viral and had more than one million views in its first week.
Carole Anne Ormaca Butler (b. 1936)
Carole competed for the USA in pair skating during the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. She and her partner, Robin Greiner, finished in 5th place.
A native of Fresno, California, Carole discovered ice skating during a family outing to her local rink. She had been studying ballet at the time and immediately took to the sport.
In their very first year of competition, Carole and Robin won the California State Championship, the Pacific Coast Championship, and the United States Championship.Prior to the Olympics, they won gold at four consecutive United States Figure Skating Championships (1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956).
Charles Thomas “Tom” Butler (1932-2019)
Tom competed for the USA in bobsledding during the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. He won a bronze medal in the four-man event.
In 1954, Tom started the first intercollegiate Bobsled Club in the United States while a student at Brown University. He found more than a dozen fellow students to regularly join him for practice at the closest official bobsled run in Lake Placid, New York – over 300 miles from campus. Club members would often pile into Tom’s 1930 Model A Ford for the ride north after classes on Friday afternoons.
Following the Olympics, Tom won a silver and bronze medal in bobsledding at the 1957 World Championships and a gold and bronze medal at the 1959 World Championships.
Charles Butler (b.1979)
Charles competed for the USA in figure skating during the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. He placed 21st in ice dance.
Prior to the Olympics, Charles and his skating partner, Jessica Joseph, were 1998 World Junior Champions and won silver at the U.S. Championships.
After the Olympics, Charles graduated from New York University Medical School and started several businesses, including a jewelry company, an ice skate blade company, and a telemedicine software company.
Gweneth Leigh Butler (1915-2006)
Gweneth competed for Great Britain in figure skating during the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. She did not place in the women’s singles event.
A daughter of London’s high society, Gweneth spent her early years traveling between England and Europe. She could often be found skating in St. Moritz or Monte Carlo.
Gweneth had injuries that hindered her skating career. In 1934, she severely injured her ankle. She came back to win second in the British Amateur Championship and fifth in both the World and European Championships the following year. In 1937, she broke an ankle that ended her career as a competitive skater.
After marrying in 1938, Gweneth moved to the United States, performed in an ice show, and was an ice skating instructor at the New York Ice Club.
Lois Reid Butler (1897-1970)
Lois competed for Canada in alpine skiing during the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. She captained the women’s team and competed in the women’s combined event, placing 15th overall.
In addition to being a world-class skier, Lois was also a highly regarded aviator. With her husband, Alan Samuel Butler, chairman of the De Haviland Aircraft Company, she set a world speed record of 119.77 miles per hour for a two-seater light plane in 1928.
At the start of the Second World War, Lois was one of the first women appointed to the Air Transport Auxiliary, a British organization that ferried new, repaired, and damaged aircraft between factories, squadrons, and airfields. By the end of the war, she had logged more than 1,000 flight hours and had flown 36 different types of aircraft.
Lois’ son, David Alan Butler (1927–1972), was also an Olympian. He competed in the Flying Dutchman sailing event for Rhodesia during the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.
Olympic Butler Aboo!
Ireland competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in 1992.
Primary Sources:
- Winter Olympic Sports List | Olympics.com. (n.d.).
- Pam, M. (2018, February 4). U.S. Olympian Bobby Butler Shares the Story Behind Viral Moment With Dad | Sporting News.
- Charles Thomas Butler (1978) – Hall Of Fame – Brown University Athletics. (n.d.). Brown University Athletics.
- Image – Bobby Butler: By TheAHL – ButlerUploaded by Dolovis, CC BY 2.0.
