What makes a "great" skater? | Golden Skate

What makes a "great" skater?

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SkateFan4Life

Guest
What makes a "great" skater?

Dick Button has shared his views as to what makes a "great" figure skater -- "A great skater is one who has made the sport better just because he, she, or they have participated in the sport." :D

That being the case, I nominate the following to be designated
as "great" skaters".

Dick Button
Barbara Ann Scott
Sonja Henie
Carol Heiss
David Jenkins
Haynes Jenkins
Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov
Peggy Fleming
Janet Lynn
Toller Cranston
John Curry
Dorothy Hamill
Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini
Irina Rodnina and Alexandr Zaitsev
Scott Hamilton
Brian Orser
Brian Boitano
Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
Paul Wylie
Todd Eldredge
Oksana Baiul
Kristi Yamaguchi
Elvis Stokjo
Kurt Browning
Michelle Kwan
Alexi Yagudin
Katia Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov
Judy Blumberg and Michael Siebert
Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner
Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev
Yuka Sato


and the list goes on and on..........

:rollin:
 
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mathman444

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

To me, a skater is great if the mere mention of his or her name brings a smile to our faces:

Midori Ito
Rudi Galindo
Surya Bonaly
 
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sk8ing lady2001

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

A skater is great, according to me, in that he/she has great footwork, spins, and artistry.

Paul Wylie
Michelle Kwan
 
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LAVENDER

Guest
The list is long

I think a skater with a resume full of memorable programs an performances. is what makes them great. They could be pro or amateur.
 
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Joesitz

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

Skatefan4life - That's quite a list and no Tenley Albright. She was the first to bring a bit of elegance and balletic style to figure skating after Sonia's dimple style and Scott's wooden style(although Scott proved that one could retrace figures). Ms Fleming picked up and nurtured Albright's style, imo.

And by the way, I don't necessarily buy Dick's view of a 'great skater' based on contribution to the sport. I can't help but think of Brahms as a great composer. He contributed nothing new to music but he wrote such beautiful music. That satisfies me as well as beautiful skating.

Joe
 
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SkateFan4Life

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

Yes, I wrote that "the list goes on and on". I know I did not include every skater - Tenley Albright, with her light-footed elegance, Midori Ito, with her high-flying triple axels, Rudy Galindo, with his superb elegance, etc.

The list is very extensive, indeed! :D
 
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mathman444

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

Tara.

BTW, that's a cute Tara gif, Skating Lady!

Mathman
 
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Lois

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

I'd add a few who IMHO meet Dick Button's criteria, though some had more opportunities and fame than others:

Robin Cousins
Robert Wagenhoffer
Denise Biellmann
Nathalie Krieg
Lucinda Ruh
David Liu
Katherine Healy
Bechke & Petrov
Midori Ito
Rudy Galindo
Tiffany Chin
Michael Chack
Kay Thomson

The list could go on...

Lois
 
G

Germanice

Guest
What makes a "great" skater?

WHAT??? :eek: :eek: :eek: No Witt so far???

Blumberg/Siebert? Wilson/McCall? Naaaa, not really!
Gritschuk/Platov!!! Usova/Shulin!!! Anissina/Peizerat!!!

Further nominations:
- Evgeny Plushenko
- Ilia Kulik
- Viktor Petrenko
- Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze

Anke :)
 
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SkateFan4Life

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

In my opinion, Blumberg/Siebert and Wilson/McCall were outstanding ice dance teams - they were great skaters in my book. You're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine.

I'm not basing my list solely on the possession of World and/or Olympic gold medals, although that, of course, is one of the yardsticks for measuring greatness for any athlete.

Blumberg/Siebert were the Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire of the American ice dancing scene in the early 1980s. They won five US titles and two World bronze medals. Frankly, they should have won the Olympic bronze medal in 1984 but were snookered out of that by some questionable judging. It wasn't on the level of Salt Lake City/pairs, but it was clearly a case of certain judges "favoring" certain skaters, in this case the Russians. Siebert has become a very accomplished ice skating choregrapher, and he has worked with Sandra Bezic on the Stars on Ice shows, as well as on other shows.

Wilson/McCall were one of the most charming ice dance teams
to ever compete, in my opinion. They were Canadian champions for a number of years, and they won several World bronze medals and the 1988 Olympic bronze medal. Wilson went on to become an articulate, fair-minded figure skating commentator. McCall was an innovative choregrapher who, very sadly, passed away from Aids a number of years ago.
 
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Lois

Guest
Re: What makes a "great" skater?

Dance is my least favorite event, but I will strongly 2nd Wilson & McCall, who were one of my all-time top three dance teams. People I know who know a lot more than I do about dance agree with me that W&M ought to have won gold, not bronze, in 1988 (Bestemianova & Bukin's win was a joke, IMHO, thanks to dance's rigid pecking order at that time--Klimova & Ponomarenko, skaters I admire who had a weak Beatles free dance in 1988, methodically moved from bronze to silver to gold over 3 Olympiads).

W&M had a wonderful Scott Joplin free dance in 1988, one of my favorite dance programs, and deservedly won the World Pros in 1989 with a fantastic Billion Dollar Baby program. A couple of their distinguishing features were that Rob McCall was a strong skater who choreographed their programs to give himself a chance to show off as well--he wasn't one of the dance men who lets his partner do most of the difficult skating--and before his untimely early death Rob was showing great potential as a choreographer for others. Their repution could only have grwn had Rob lived longer.

Lois
 

shanilia

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Michelle Kwan should be #1 on that list! What that girl has accomplished is absolutely mindboggling!
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
What makes a "great" skater?

SkateFan4Life:

Karen Magnussen. She was a wonderful skater and was my "skating icon." She was my Michelle Kwan.

There have been a lot of great skaters over the years.

I think what makes a skater "great" is their love for the sport of figure skating and how they translate that love to us. Karen inspired me to skate.

Ladskater
 
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SkateFan4Life

Guest
What makes a "great" skater?

Ladskater, from your many posts I take it that you are Canadian, so naturally, you would list some of your favorite Canadian skaters. As an American, I often list my favorite American skaters, and so it goes.
:)

There are so many other skaters who, while perhaps not "great" skaters, certainly distinguished themselves with their talent, hard work, and determination.

Any skater who takes the time to become a competent figure skater deserves a huge round of applause, in my opinion. :)
 

2loop2002

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Ladskater,
Congratulations on getting your custom photo back! :)

I don't feel very qualified to give my opinion on who a "great" skater is. Reading these lists made me realize how very young I am. I've never seen many of these "greats" skate, but I really wish I could!
 
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