Of all time...? Would have to be Janet Lynn... Michelle was amazing ambassador, competitor, and had some really brilliant performances (Philadelphia, Nationals 1998)... but Janet Lynn gets my vote... hands down.
Of all time...? Would have to be Janet Lynn... Michelle was amazing ambassador, competitor, and had some really brilliant performances (Philadelphia, Nationals 1998)... but Janet Lynn gets my vote... hands down.
I really have to say Mao Asada, so I voted other. (It was her or Michelle). Why?
It's funny how close they are competitively, when Kwan was so the same age as Asada, they both had 2 National Championship Golds and 1 National Championship Silver under their belts, at Worlds, both with a Silver and Gold (Kwan had one additional Gold but that was before age restrictions, and I don't think it would be far off to say that if Mao was at Worlds the year Kimmie won, she probably would have walked away with Gold, speculation, but...). Mao has 1 gold and 2 silvers from the Grand Prix Final, Michelle never took Gold in the Grand Prix but 3 silvers. Both took home a Gold in the World Junior Championships (Mao with an additional silver). Although the JGP wasn't around for Michelle, Mao took home a Gold in the JGPF as well.
Mao is still 17 and has no Olympic experience yet, but I have to say, for 17 years of age, she has a very nice list of accomplishments under her belt, and it's very plausible that people will look back 5 or 10 years from now and say she was the greatest skater. (Or maybe making this same debate about a new skater! hehe)
This video should explain why Janet should get many votes:Originally Posted by lcd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zABAvHPgJGc
Greatness is not always measured by how many titles you win but by the character you show when times are hard. My advice to watching this video is to have some tissues on hand!
Last edited by delray1977; 08-26-2008 at 02:49 AM.
ITA. The test is: Could anyone else on the list have skated Mao's program? With her triple axel, triple-triple, level 3 and 4 footwork and spins, flexibility, musicality and skating skills, I think not.
Karen Magnussen was not on the list - so my vote is for Karen! I must also add Barbara Ann Scott.
And this is why I love this site the posters are sooo funny... thanks! I needed a giggle on a late friday night working late...
None of the skaters of the list. Michelle was graceful, Slutskaya had the jumps, but best skater of all times: Yuna Kim.
Why Yu-na is not on the list?????
Yu-na is the best skater ever!!!!!
Kwan got the highest vote here but think about it.
Yu-na can do what Kwan can do.
On the other hand, Kwan can not do what Yu-na can do.
It's just simple.
Kwan is lucky Yu-na wasn't around when she was competing
Yu-na : The Queen on Ice
because once upon a time, Yuna was not a top name skater... this is an old thread that you dug up.
For goodness sake, you can't compare skaters of different generations with technical content. If you compare it like that, Sonja Henie will amount to less than the last place finishing skater in a competition and Ulrich Salchow will be a nobody.
I'm not saying you can't say Mao and Yuna are the best skaters ever, but not because they do more difficult stuff than skaters who skated two or three decades ago.
Figure skating shot itself in the foot with the new scoring system, and until they work out the main two bugs, of preferring difficult failures and of marking what cannot be seen except with special equipment, none of the current crop will really be satisfactory. And the really old skaters don't work either; sport does advance.
So it comes down to Michelle Kwan or Irina Slutskaya vs. Midori Ito.
I pick Ito, because both the technical skill and the sheer joy of skating she projected during her brief peak have not been matched since.
Kwan's elegance was contrived in comparison, and technically she always played it safe. And Slutskaya was the best of the period, but lacked Ito's joy.
Last edited by abaka; 12-19-2008 at 10:36 PM.
Difficult choice here. I have gone for Katarina Witt because of her outstanding records at Europeans, Olympics & Worlds. Granted, Elizabeth Manley should have won Olympics 88 with that superb free programme but was too far behind in figures. My favourite programme of Katarina's was the West Side Story routine at Worlds 87 where she managed the triple loop as well. Carmen was good, but a bit prancy and pretty, if you know what I mean. Katarina was very brave coming back for Olympics 94 and I loved her free programme to ' Sag mir wo die Blumen sind' but she could not compete without the triple loop, flip and lutz which were needed at that time.
Best programme of all time for me was Midori Ito at Worlds 89. She performed the Triple Axel much better the following year in Halifax but the routine was fabulous. I watch it often on You Tube and love it.
Skaters today I feel are monotonous. The music is dull and there are very few characters. Like watching more technically competent versions of Ivanova and Lebedeva. Also, the new scoring system needs replacing with the old 6.0
If you leave the figures out at Olympics 1988, clearly Midori Ito should have won for having both a fabulous SP & a fabulous LP.
SP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl3Pe...eature=related
The 2lp3lp combination!!!
The huge double axel!!
The superfast combination spin!!
The fluidity both into and out of the jumps!!!!
The big smile at the end!!
LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyu8GYBRIjE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7r3FhAnpW8
This is my favorite LP ever. Maria Butyrskaya "Otonal".
And my favorite skaters are Yu-Na Kim and Elena Sokolova
Last edited by Lucky Star; 03-06-2009 at 04:42 PM.
MICHELLE KWAN!!!
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks