World Renowned Figure Skaters | Page 2 | Golden Skate

World Renowned Figure Skaters

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Ladies
Midori Ito (technically)
Michelle Kwan (longevity)
Yuna Kim/Mao Asada (sorry I won't break the tie).

Men
Button
Browning/Boitano/Orser/
Yagudin/Plushenko


Pairs
Protopopovs
Gordeeva /Grinkov
Savchenko /Szolkowy and Shen/Zhao

Ice Dance
Torvill/Dean - innovative choreography
Klimova /Ponomarenko
Virtue/Moir - Davis/White - North America dominance last four years. Each brought different things to the table. Again won't break this tie.

Sorry I'm bad at this.
 
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Kwanford Wife

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
I have a total American perspective on this, so please keep that in mind...

Men
Button - Obvious Reasons
Boitano / Orser - Again, Obvious Reasons
Elvis / Yagudin / Plushenko / Browning

Dance
T / D
A/P
D/W - hometown heroes. Awesome team of course, but hometown trumps all

Pairs
Shen / Zhao
G / G
Canadian / Russian Double Golds - This is a negative as it confirmed every suspicion nonfans & casual fans had about the sport: that it was shady & built on corruption. Which is unfair to the skaters, of course.

Ladies
Witt - the True Queen of the Ice
Kwan - just an amazing champion
Tonya / Nancy - again, showed the underbelly while capturing the attention of the World
 

Mista Ekko

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
- As far as world renowned in my experience it's as follows :

When my american friends who know nothing about skating make fun of me for watching it they say things like:
"Are you, Like, In love with Brian Boitano ?" or "Don't you just wanna be like Kattarina Witt and land a Triple Lux?"

- In Israel i heard things like:

"There's one really good one, Korean or something, Right?" (Kim)
There's that one guy that's really famous, right, he's really really gay" (Weir)

- I remember a reference to Dorothy Hamill in an early episode of "Friends", When Ross has her on his list of desirable women,
And i think it's Monica that says "You know she only spins like that on ice..."

- Apart from that It's Nancy\Tonya and Michelle\Tara, Who get references here and there, Guest appearances and articles (The Simpsons, Leathel weapon 3, Will and grace, Suddenly Susan and Jerry Mcguire come to mind)

- Possibly Plushenko ?
Not sure about him...

- I think Lips has a shot at being a future one
 

lady_bee

Medalist
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
From Japanese perspective,
Janet Lynn and Witt, and hopefully Midori.

Even in Japan, Figure Skating had been a minor sports before Mao,
and before Yuzuru, there has been less attention on men.
Even now, there is almost no attention on pair nor dance.
 

silverfoxes

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
I knew who Dorothy Hamill was even as a very small child...probably because she had a doll and my mom wanted me to get a haircut like hers. (I didn't want it.) Didn't really watch skating growing up, but I was aware of the "Battle of the Brians" and then obviously the Tonya/Nancy situation was inescapable in the media. So much depends on your age and location, though. Peggy Fleming, Dick Button, Scott Hamilton, Katarina Witt, Michelle Kwan, and Sonja Henie are names that anyone with the slightest bit of pop culture knowledge should recognize, I think. Plushenko of course. Though in the US, Johnny Weir is much more familiar to people who don't follow skating than Plushenko is, I'd say.
 

skatedreamer

Medalist
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Country
United-States
-

- I remember a reference to Dorothy Hamill in an early episode of "Friends", When Ross has her on his list of desirable women,
And i think it's Monica that says "You know she only spins like that on ice..."

- Apart from that It's Nancy\Tonya and Michelle\Tara, Who get references here and there, Guest appearances and articles (The Simpsons, Leathel weapon 3, Will and grace, Suddenly Susan and Jerry Mcguire come to mind)

- I think Lips has a shot at being a future one

The line about Dorothy Hamill from Friends made me :rofl:

Re: TV shows, there's an episode of M*A*S*H where the 4077th is watching a Sonja Henie film. At one point, Col. Potter says something like "I think this is where she does a triple axel." I got all bent out of shape and started yelling (sort of) at the TV: "Henie didn't even do double axels!" :slink: :laugh:

And something tells me you're right about Yulia...
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
It's interesting to see so many references to Johnny. For someone who isn't particularly decorated, he's made quite a splash. I'd say he's had a good run. ;) I do wonder how he'll be remembered (or not) in ten years' time, considering he's more public personality than skater at this point. But I certainly can't think of another mid-pack skater who's had that amount of fame.
 

Kwanford Wife

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
It's interesting to see so many references to Johnny. For someone who isn't particularly decorated, he's made quite a splash. I'd say he's had a good run. ;) I do wonder how he'll be remembered (or not) in ten years' time, considering he's more public personality than skater at this point. But I certainly can't think of another mid-pack skater who's had that amount of fame.

This is a good point. Johnny Weir gets mad love all the time and has totally stolen whatever fame a modern era American male figure skater should enjoy... I've seen him on the food network, fashion police, coverage of his divorce on the major morning news shows (network and cable) and of course as a commentator. For the life of me, I can't remember the last time I heard a word about Evan...it's quite remarkable. And good for Johnny.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
As for world renown, it's not easy to think of any skater who is famous outside his/her own country. Sonja Henie of course, but in modern times I would have to say Katarina Witt. She was popular throughout Europe and also in the United States (don't know about Asia).

Ice dance gets less attention, but Torvill and Dean had wide recognition.
 

s_parks

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
As for world renown, it's not easy to think of any skater who is famous outside his/her own country. Sonja Henie of course, but in modern times I would have to say Katarina Witt. She was popular throughout Europe and also in the United States (don't know about Asia).

Ice dance gets less attention, but Torvill and Dean had wide recognition.

My dad was born and raised in Korea, and when Yuna was winning and making headlines etc, he talked about Witt a lot; he seemed to remember her quite well. I assume she was very well known in general.
 

Kwanford Wife

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
As for world renown, it's not easy to think of any skater who is famous outside his/her own country. Sonja Henie of course, but in modern times I would have to say Katarina Witt. She was popular throughout Europe and also in the United States (don't know about Asia).

Ice dance gets less attention, but Torvill and Dean had wide recognition.

I would hazard a guess that Katarina Witt is probably the GOAT of ice skating (greatest of all time)... I know Sonja Henie is recognized and the internet has given Janet Lynn recognition she lacked before but in terms of whose the MOST recognized? I'd be shocked if it wasn't Witt
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I don't know if this is significant, but Michelle Kwan is the only one whose birthday I know. And I think it's today! Happy birthday, Michelle.
 

skatedreamer

Medalist
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Country
United-States
I would hazard a guess that Katarina Witt is probably the GOAT of ice skating (greatest of all time)... I know Sonja Henie is recognized and the internet has given Janet Lynn recognition she lacked before but in terms of whose the MOST recognized? I'd be shocked if it wasn't Witt

If we're talking in terms of "household recognition" by people who rarely pay attention to figure skating, I'd tend to agree that it's Katarina. At the height of her career, she was probably the best known/most recognized skater in the world and may still be, to some extent. Just about everyone knew who she was. Although Brian Boitano was certainly very well known at the same time, I'm not sure that even he ever achieved the degree of fame that Katarina did. Except possibly Tonya Harding, whose fame is probably better described as notoriety.

There have been other skaters who have been far more accomplished but for sheer recognition, IMO Katarina wins.
 

gravy

¿No ven quién soy yo?
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
If we're talking in terms of "household recognition" by people who rarely pay attention to figure skating, I'd tend to agree that it's Katarina. At the height of her career, she was probably the best known/most recognized skater in the world and may still be, to some extent. Just about everyone knew who she was. Although Brian Boitano was certainly very well known at the same time, I'm not sure that even he ever achieved the degree of fame that Katarina did. Except possibly Tonya Harding, whose fame is probably better described as notoriety.

There have been other skaters who have been far more accomplished but for sheer recognition, IMO Katarina wins.

I think it varies for people of different eras. I was born in the early 90s and I never watched a single skating competition until last year, but growing up I knew exactly who Michelle Kwan was. Same for many college students today who aren't into figure skating. If you asked them to name one skater or show them a picture of her, they would know Michelle Kwan. A lot of it has to do with her pop culture presence (TV shows, commercials, etc.) even outside the US.

Of course, it's my opinion and other people have theirs. I don't think we can ever have a definitive answer to this question. :yes:
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
I think it varies for people of different eras. I was born in the early 90s and I never watched a single skating competition until last year, but growing up I knew exactly who Michelle Kwan was. Same for many college students today who aren't into figure skating. If you asked them to name one skater or show them a picture of her, they would know Michelle Kwan. A lot of it has to do with her pop culture presence (TV shows, commercials, etc.) even outside the US.

Of course, it's my opinion and other people have theirs. I don't think we can ever have a definitive answer to this question. :yes:

It definitely depends on the era. And it does not need to have anything to do with skating. For my era, the most famous in the US would be Dorothy Hamill. Just last week I was talking with some people my age (and Dorothy's age) about another's wedge haircut, and both exclaimed "Like Dorothy Hamill." And they know nothing about, and do not follow, skating. They would not know Michelle Kwan if you paid them cash money.

Worldwide, I would tend to agree with Katerina Witt.
 

RABID

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Ladies: 1) Henie 2) Lynn 3) Kwan

Perhaps Kwan and Witt had/have world recognition, but if you went outside your home and asked anyone what they think of Henie and Lynn I suspect they wouldn't know who you were talking about, unless they were fans of this dying sport and knowledgeable fans at that.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Definitely depends on generation. For me, growing up, it was all about Michelle Kwan. On the men's side, vaguely aware of Yagudin vs. Plushenko (and after a while, just Plushenko on his own).
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
A skater who should be world famous but isn't -- Carol Heiss. She was a five-time world champion (like Michelle Kwan) and Olympic gold and silver medalist (like Yuna Kim). First woman to do a double Axel. She could do a variety of spins and jumps in both directions.

Heiss had the bad luck to come along in between the skating movie era of Sonja Henie and the television era beginning with Peggy Fleming.

Actually, she did play the lead in a movie -- the not-quite-as-bad-as-it-sounds "Snow White and the Three Stooges. ;)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...x-Snow_White_and_the_Three_Stooges-Promo3.JPG
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I'd have to agree that Dorothy Hamill would be one of the best known skaters in the U.S., even today. Her bubbly personality, and of course that distinctive haircut, have made her very telegenic, so she's had more opportunities than many other skating champions. (Another asset is her very pleasing voice. She doesn't have that "little girl on helium" squeal that a lot of skaters and gymnasts have.) She was also the only ladies' gold medalist until Kristi in 1992, so for every Olympics between 1976 and 1992, she was invoked as the one to aspire to. I'd say that she, Michelle, and maybe Peggy Fleming would be the big names. Janet Lynn is revered among skating fans but these days probably isn't well remembered by anyone else. Partly this is due to her wish to live a very private life with her family, whereas Peggy has been visible pretty regularly as a TV sports announcer for the past decades. For whatever reason, Kristi didn't make an immediate splash, though thank goodness she's proved to have staying power. She may be better known today than she was right after her win at Albertville.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
For whatever reason, Kristi didn't make an immediate splash, though thank goodness she's proved to have staying power. She may be better known today than she was right after her win at Albertville.

Kristi was the number one star attraction in professional skating in the U.S. during a decade when professional skating was something worth being the number one star of. ;) Then she grabbed the opportunity to take over Dancing with the Stars in the best season up to that time of that show. Recently she has gotten a lot of play for her children's books.

Plus, she is one of those rare genetic marvels who get ever the more lovely with each passing year. :yes:
 
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