Best Ladies' figure skater of all time? Take 2 | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Best Ladies' figure skater of all time? Take 2

Best women singles skater of all time

  • Total voters
    360
L

lcd

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
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.
 
B

bethissoawesome

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
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)
 
D

delray1977

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
lcd said:
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.
Click to expand...

This video should explain why Janet should get many votes:

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!
 
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vlaurend

vlaurend

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
bethissoawesome said:
I really have to say Mao Asada, so I voted other.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Ladskater

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Karen Magnussen was not on the list - so my vote is for Karen! I must also add Barbara Ann Scott.

:clap:
 
K

Kwanford Wife

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
:rofl:
vlaurend said:
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.
Click to expand...
:rofl::rofl:

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... :rock::rock:
 
M

McWicked

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
None of the skaters of the list. Michelle was graceful, Slutskaya had the jumps, but best skater of all times: Yuna Kim.
 
Y

ynkgraceonice

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Why Yu-na is not on the list?????:mad:
Yu-na is the best skater ever!!!!!:rock:
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.:yes:
Kwan is lucky Yu-na wasn't around when she was competing:rofl:

:bow:Yu-na : The Queen on Ice:bow:
 
Tonichelle

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
because once upon a time, Yuna was not a top name skater... this is an old thread that you dug up.
 
V

Vincero

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
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.
 
A

abaka

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
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.
 
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C

ColinR

Spectator
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Best Female Skater of all time

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
 
Michelle'sFan

Michelle'sFan

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
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
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly! :clap:

The question is who was the BEST and all those ladies have their highlights:
Sonja: gave ladies jumps and changed the sport
Witt: 2 Olympic Gold
Janet Lynn: jumps and spins but not figures
Etc

Sonja never did a triple, neither did some of the other older skaters, so how does that compare?

All that to say, I can't pick. My favorite of all time is Michelle, but is she the all time best? I'd like to say so but who knows. :)

Michelle'sFan
 
janetfan

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
Michelle'sFan said:
My thoughts exactly! :clap:

The question is who was the BEST and all those ladies have their highlights:
Sonja: gave ladies jumps and changed the sport
Witt: 2 Olympic Gold
Janet Lynn: jumps and spins but not figures
Etc

Sonja never did a triple, neither did some of the other older skaters, so how does that compare?

All that to say, I can't pick. My favorite of all time is Michelle, but is she the all time best? I'd like to say so but who knows. :)

Michelle'sFan
Click to expand...


I am a new member here and just read through this interesting thread.
It is tough to vote because I have followed skating for a long time and have many favorites.
It made me think who is my favorite all time Lady skater? Is my personal favorite also the best skater in history?
As some have noted it is difficult and even unfair to compare skaters from the present decade to skaters who came from much earlier eras. Obviously the sport has evolved with better training techniques and choreography. Even today's boots are better than those from the past and there are more rinks allowing for more intensive training.
I voted for Janet Lynn (surprise:)) based of the influence she had on the sport. I see Janet's influence when I watch the graceful Chen-Lu skate.I see a more disciplined version of Janet when I watch Michelle skate. I see a more highly trained version of Janet when I watch Yuna skate.
Janet was the most highly regarded skater by her peers and she is the one who first combined the athletic and artistic aspects of skating creating the performance art that we see today. She was the major innovator - so much so the ISU changed the rules due to the impact her free skating had on crowds and TV audiences.
Who can say which skater is the best of all time? I think Janet was the most influential skater and that is why I voted for her.
 
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D

delobelfan30

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Katerina Witt. She dominated an incredibly strong field for many years and has won 2 Olympic Golds. The only other one with more than 1 Olympic Gold is the great Sonja Henjie with 3 but back in Henjie's day competition was a joke and many of her wins were completely political and not earned.
 
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