) Wow, imagine a skater with all of the above!!!!
; that was my logic in choosing as well. It's funny how there's our own personal preference, and I find the most popular one among skating fans across the board to be #3, "the total package" skater, but most often what stands up against the test of time is how decorated a competitor is. In our era of extensive video footage of skating being available for the latter part of the 20th century through the present and future, I think the actual qualities of the skaters come into play more, if not as much as their competitive excellence and resulting records. It's funny because, since FS and tennis are my two favorite sports, I tend to compare them a lot and I was just reading an article on the criteria used to determine who the top ten female tennis players of all time were--it was pointed out that the greatest champions are the ones whose champion qualities produce results, so the results are the clearest indicators of who the greats are...far from being that clear in skating, which makes questions/conundrums like this one fun to discuss, I think ), how that's absolutely useless when it comes to getting the results, the wins that every competitor prizes as much as developing their craft to the fullest, probably because the development and the recognition necessarily go hand in hand, officially recognizing the hard-won accomplishment of a skater--the official reason they compete, if not the only reason they skate (the case with the true greats, the ones who stay in our hearts, I think--those who treat their chosen sport as an art and an end in itself, not just a competition--but who can also stand up and "bring" their high art to the competition and be fierce competitors--an interesting combination of qualities/approaches)...so yeah, to be less long-winded (than I usually am LOL), 1 and 3 and I don't think there's any one answer. To me, Midori Ito is one of the greatest skaters ever, and so is Oksana Baiul, for very different reasons - I think Midori is the best female jumper ever and also had terrific other elements. I also think Oksana is one of the most artistic and expressive skaters ever, and she had amazing speed and some great elements. Two totally different skaters, both amazing. Neither racked up the medals (both won big events, but neither won big events year in year out). Does this mean they weren't great skaters? No. Does the possibility that the pressure got to Midori post-figures mean she wasn't great? No. Does the fact that Oksana left eligible skating at 16 mean she wasn't great? No. )
I think what piqued my curiosity and gave me the idea for this poll was wondering what criteria people were picking when they voted on "greatest skater ever" polls and had to select just one, which, as we've seen in this discussion, is something that goes against the complex nature of skating--so many different arguments can be made for choosing a greatest, but yours, citing many different skaters who are great for different reasons, is probably the more realistic type of answer, as it is probably the product of the fundamental differences between skating versus sports in which a "greatest" is easier to pick (Michael Jordan, Martina Navratilova, New York Yankees, etc.), the artistic element, the relative infrequency (don't even know if that's a word ) of competition as against a tennis, basketball, or football schedule (which upps the ante pressure-wise), etc...
I told you I'd be back Haven't been much online, I'm playing catch up now... 
(fortunately there is the 'back' button so I did got the page and my post back 
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) I really like the points you made, and they further serve to nuance a poll like this--everyone has special criteria for choosing their favorites, but the "greatest" usually has to be decorated to some extent, because if that weren't the case, then people would be turning out in droves to see the greatest, best all around skater who never won anything, just to watch them skate in practice. I think medaling is a minimum prerequisite for "greatness", if it wasn't then when would we be able to behold this greatness? Greatness should include ability to compete as well as actual skating quality, a far more subjective criterion...I'm totally with you on that. Then there's the issue of who's my favorite and whose skating style do I like regardless of whether they won any medals--but how do we find out such a skater exists if they can't even make the final group--all we get on TV in the us
