Joubert and Buttle debate nature of their sport

By Sarah Edmonds

GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Reuters) - There was as much drama off the ice as on it at the figure skating world championships on Saturday when a debate over the nature of the sport erupted between the men's gold and silver medalists.

Frenchman Brian Joubert, who staged a comeback from sixth place after the short program to finish second to Canada's Jeffrey Buttle, expressed dismay about judging changes that he said made it more important to be accurate than bold.

Joubert, defending champion in the men's event, told a news conference he was disappointed after Friday's short program when officials penalized him for using music with lyrics.

"I am still disappointed (following the free skate) because Jeffrey had the perfect competition -- he made no mistakes -- but he did not try a quad jump," said the Frenchman, who landed a successful quadruple in his program.

"The new judging system is like that -- it's better to do simple and clean (jumps) than to try something difficult... We need to give more points for the quad jumps for the future."

Joubert said he "wouldn't have bet on Jeffrey" winning the gold before the championships but the Canadian finished with 245.17 points, well ahead of the Frenchman's overall 231.22.

FLAWLESS BUTTLE

Buttle, who skated flawless but quadruple-free short and long programs, hit back by saying he felt he deserved his title and that figure skating was about more than jumps.