Most Controversial Skater Of All Time

[n_halifax]

Who is the most controversial skater of all time?

[ImaginaryPogue]

Bonaly, by far.

[dorispulaski]

Wolfgang Schwarz
World gold medallist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Schwarz

[Germanice]

Michelle Kwan!

[Mathman]

That's an interesting question. "Controversy" usually means there are two sides to the question, each with its vehement partisans. I don't think there is any "controversy" associated with Tonya Harding. She was a talented skater who, alas, fell in with the wrong crowd. Christopher Bowman was a talented skater who could not overcome addiction to drugs, alchohol and self-destructive behavior.

I do not see anything controversial about Lloyd Eisler. He's a scum-bag. What's the controversy? Doris' candidate, Wolfgang Schwarz, is an outright criminal.

I agree with Imaginary Pogue that Surya Bonaly was controversial. Some people think she was a bad sport and a spoiled brat for not accepting the silver medal at 2004 Worlds. Others feel equally strongly that she finally got tired of being screwed over, and she rightly stood up for herself.

Gary Beamon was controversial off the ice because he refused on principle to pay taxes, and (like Thoreau) went to jail for it. Was he a silly screw-up or an heroic civil libertarian?

Toller Cranston is an interesting case. The "controversy" was not about his off ice behavior, but about his art. At the time it was like, what??! Now there is a pretty broad consensus that he was an artistic genius twenty years ahead of his time.

I guess I have to go along with Germanice, but much more mildly. Some people (like me) just eat the girl up with their big Michelle-love spoon. Others, zzzzzzz. So I gues her skating is "controversial," in that sense.

[skatemom1122]

How could it not be Harding? From the Kerrigan hit to the skate lace breaking to her mysterious death threats to her absurd boxing career, Tonya Harding tops the list.