regardless of rankings, current hype, what female skaters would you pay most to see?

[Jaana]

Current eligible skaters: Yu-Na Kim, Mirai Nagasu and Laura Lepistö

Past: Shizuka Arakawa and Sasha Cohen

[lavender]

Michelle Kwan...

I would like to see a lot of past skaters (singles, pairs and dance) plus a few current and somewhat current ones like Stephane, Jeff B, Takahashi, Mirai and even Sasha.

[fairly4]

past--michelle kwan/ peggy fleming, carol heiss/tenley albright/ use to kristi--maybe i am not sure now/janet lynn/linda fratianne/ tiffany chin/ irina slutskaya/ chen lu/
maribel owen/ theresa weld blanchard/ svea noren/barbara scott - the 1964 medal winners gold silver and bronzethe older skaters who won medals before 1948 except for sonja henie, caryn kadavy
past still skating--yuka sato/
current skaters--mao/yu-na/ shizuka/
i have seen sasha-3 times is enough plus video is available so i don't want to see her anymore and the current united states youngers--not really maybe zhang and mirai-not sure
sadly more of the older skaters i want to see and pay for than the younger skaters

[iluvtodd]

Midori, Michelle, Kristi, Yuka, Fumie, Katia, Shizuka, Sasha, Alissa, Joannie, Mao, Miki, Yuna, Akiko, Sarah Maier, Yukari, Yukina, Mirai, Rachel, Kimmie ...

If I had to choose just one, it would be Midori!

[RockTheTassel]

My top choiced would be...

Current: Mirai Nagasu, Yuna Kim, Joannie Rochette, Ashley Wagner

Past: Michelle Kwan, Shizuka Arakawa, Sasha Cohen

[Figure88]

Yuna Kim, Michelle Kwan, Joannie Rochette, Mao Asada..

[Tonichelle]

current eligible skaters: Joannie Rochette, Mirai Nagasu, Ashley Wagner, Yuna Kim, Mao Asada - but I wouldn't go to JUST see THEM... if one of them was the only headliner, I may not be as inclined to spend a great deal of money (Joannie and Ashley truly being the exceptions if they were here in AK)

professional/retired skaters: Kristi Yamaguchi, Yuka Sato (saw her live in 1999, fantastic!), Angela Nikodinov, Jenny Kirk, Kimmie Meissner, Josee Chouinard (saw her, also, in 1999), Katia Gordeeva, Sarah Hughes, Tara Lipinski

[Ren]

Eligible, retired, professional, in limbo :D :

Yu-Na Kim, Akiko Suzuki, Mirai Nagasu, Sasha Cohen, Jenny Kirk, Michelle Kwan, Katia Gordeeva

[yunasashafan]

Eligilble: Yu-na Kim, Mao Asada, Joannie Rochette, or Mirai Nagasu

In limbo Sasha Cohen

Retired: Michelle Kwan, Shizuka Arakawa

[Olympia]

I actually saw Michelle and Sasha live once, but I sat in the nosebleed seats and saw nothing I could legitimately identify as any particular skater. Even with binoculars, I would have gotten a good view of how they part their hair....So for this question, I'm assuming rinkside seats.

Michelle, definitely. Yuka Sato, who's wonderful onscreen and is reputed to be even better seen live. Shizuka, to watch that Ina Bauer. Gordeyeva. I'm told she skates with incredible speed and lightness.

Of today's skaters, YuNa and Mao. Both have such amazing gifts, and i'd love to see the grandeur of YuNa's jumps for myself, and the airiness of Mao's skating. (With music other than Rachmaninoff's The Bells, I hope!)

[aurora100]

Baiul vs Yuna... rare dancers on ice..

Now that would be interesting.

[dorispulaski]

I would pay to see Nicole Bobek skate in the shape she was in 1995, to Dr. Zhivago again.

I would pay to see Dorothy Hamill skate-heck she can even get me to watch a pain killer commercial

I would pay to see Irina Slutskaya skate again. Now there was a skater that had to be seen live to appreciate her!

I would actually travel to see Midori Ito skate again. Oh she was wonderful at 1987 Worlds (not to mention 1988 Olympics, etc. etc.)

I would pay to see Michelle Kwan skate.

Believe it or not, I would pay to see Emily Hughes skate live. Or Kimmie.

The thing I most like seeing is a skater who seems to be enjoying herself out there on the ice. For that reason, I am not interested in paying to see the current ladies skate.

[Bijoux]

ITA with your choices Doris, except maybe Kimmie/Emily though I think they're cetainly joyful to watch.

I think Mirai and Rachel bring the joy factor mostly. Mao is all business I guess and Yu-na does not seem all that happy/loving skating. She smiles but its very practiced. She talks about the stress of competing and it is obvious despite the smile. I think we were spoiled by Michelle and Tara. Roz Sumners also loved to skate. And Katt always seemed happy to be out there.