Most successful ladies' figure skaters ever

[plushyfan]

EDIT: Only now I've realised it says "ladies". Sorry! :


From Men discipline the first to come to my mind is Plushenko. He certainly has a lot of medals!
(went to do a little research)

10 EC medals: 3 silver, 7 gold
7 GPF medals: 1 bronze, 2 silver, 4 gold
5 WC medals: 1 bronze, 1 silver, 3 gold
3 Oly medals: 1 silver, 2 gold

:eeking:

I'm sure Yagudin must have a lot of medals too. :think:

And Carolina Kostner is also fairly successful.
She has 1 OM, 6 WC medals, 4 GPF medals and 11 EC medals.

Plushenko has 4 Oly medals: Two silvers ( 2002 and 2010) !

21 GP medals:18 golds and 3 silvers

 

[Globetrotter]

If the success definition is not in terms of hard ware won and rather for ushering in a new trend or setting a new standard or creating a lasting impact, then my list of successful ladies will be:
1) Midori Ito - 1st lady 3A, huge jumps, prototype CoP skater (transitions, strong SS)
2) Sasha Cohen - for introducing the concept of flexibility, body line and aesthetics (minus the lack of edges)
3) Eteri Tutberidze herself - for coaching girls of such tough mindsets they become the strongest competitors worldwide
4) Kim Yuna - for popularising the sport in Korea and ushering a new generation of skaters from the Korean Peninsular in believing a FS career is possible
5) Irina Slutskaya and Michelle Kwan - for keeping up and driving up the tech and the qualitative aspects of FS in the start of the 21st century and also for pushing each other to do better
7) Liza Tuks and Ade Sot - for ushering the first wave of talented Russian girls into FS and setting the standards for a skating performance that actually attempts to engage the spectators (not just wowing them)

 

[NadezhdaNadya]

It's really strange to me that, in this sport, we still compare modern skaters to people from the 1920s... I'm just not sure that accumulating all the titles Sonja did is comparable to achieving the same thing today. In fact, I wouldn't make any comparisons earlier than the 80s, and that's being generous.

Yes, I guess, you are right.
That is why from the oldy skaters I mentioned only Sonja Henie in my list. Since she was an amazing innovator.

 

[Procrastinator]

What does success mean?

I mean, if it isn't just the medals, wouldn't Yuna count as one of the most successful for ushering an era of good figure skating into South Korea, and headlining several ice shows, and being successful with the Olympic bid, and being the UNICEF ambassador, all on the strength of her sheer effort and perseverance and dedication to her sport?

She has the medals to boot.

I would count Yuna just on the basis of her never having finished off a podium ever

 

[Leppis]

I would certainly count Carolina as one of the most successful ones.

Olympics: 1x bronze
Worlds: 1x gold, 2x silver, 3x bronze
Europeans: 5x gold, 2x silver, 4x bronze (no off the podium finish since 2006!)
GPF: 1x gold, 1x silver, 2x bronze
Worlds Junior: 1x bronze
JGPF: 1x silver

She has also won four of the six GPs, Skate Canada being the only one where she hasn't medalled. And not to forget the influence she has had and will continue to have on the artistic side of figure skating.

 

[skylark]

What if "success" is defined as making something great out of your own (possibly limited) talent, fulfilling your potential, and influencing and encouraging others to do the same?

1. Ashley Wagner. Giving the world an example of someone who is not defeated by defeat. Being a woman in a sport where all the advantage is with little teen-agers. Showing the world a person who never, ever gives up. Passion, presence, love for her sport, imparting emotion to audiences. The haters hate her for some of the same reasons many others love her. She has the courage to show her feelings in the moment. That's related to her power on the ice: she's in the moment there too.

2. Janet Lynn. Spirit, goodness, beauty, dedication. And when she fell down repeatedly in an event she was supposed to win, she got up, smiled, and carried right on creating beauty with movement.

3. Peggy Fleming. She symbolized a sport's and a nation's rise out of the ashes of a great disaster, a great tragedy. She was a sign that one person, showing grace, beauty, athleticism and a new direction all her own, could change the world and a whole way of thinking.

4. Ekaterina Gordeeva. Everyone knows why. In a way, she's an embodiment of all of the above.

 

[Lester]

What if "success" is defined as making something great out of your own (possibly limited) talent, fulfilling your potential, and influencing and encouraging others to do the same?

1. Ashley Wagner. Giving the world an example of someone who is not defeated by defeat. Being a woman in a sport where all the advantage is with little teen-agers. Showing the world a person who never, ever gives up. Passion, presence, love for her sport, imparting emotion to audiences. The haters hate her for some of the same reasons many others love her. She has the courage to show her feelings in the moment. That's related to her power on the ice: she's in the moment there too.

No offence but Ashley talks way more about how successful, great, talented, inspirational and artistic she is, than she manages to showcase. Her GP medals and World medal are all great achievements but consider how many let downs there have been in her career and how differently it could have gone if there was less talking and self-importance.

 

[yume]

I would count Yuna just on the basis of her never having finished off a podium ever

Impressive indeed.
Who aside from Medvedeva and her have done that?
Though it's relatively more easy to do that with only 6 and 5 completes seasons than with 10 or 15 completes seasons.

 

[skylark]

No offence but Ashley talks way more about how successful, great, talented, inspirational and artistic she is, than she manages to showcase.

No offence taken; I hear it differently. She's not defeated by defeat. Or, another way to say it, she doesn't let results or the past dictate how she thinks, who she is being, how she sees her career, or how she sees her future. It's not over till it's over.

Her GP medals and World medal are all great achievements

Absolutely. :2thumbs:And her 3 National championships in a stretch of time when no one else has been able to do that.

 

[MarinHondas]

What if "success" is defined as making something great out of your own (possibly limited) talent, fulfilling your potential, and influencing and encouraging others to do the same?

1. Ashley Wagner. Giving the world an example of someone who is not defeated by defeat. Being a woman in a sport where all the advantage is with little teen-agers. Showing the world a person who never, ever gives up. Passion, presence, love for her sport, imparting emotion to audiences. The haters hate her for some of the same reasons many others love her. She has the courage to show her feelings in the moment. That's related to her power on the ice: she's in the moment there too.

2. Janet Lynn. Spirit, goodness, beauty, dedication. And when she fell down repeatedly in an event she was supposed to win, she got up, smiled, and carried right on creating beauty with movement.

3. Peggy Fleming. She symbolized a sport's and a nation's rise out of the ashes of a great disaster, a great tragedy. She was a sign that one person, showing grace, beauty, athleticism and a new direction all her own, could change the world and a whole way of thinking.

4. Ekaterina Gordeeva. Everyone knows why. In a way, she's an embodiment of all of the above.

I dont see how Ashley can be considered one of the most successful. There are many skaters who are still going strong and are not teenagers. Mirai, Carolina, Kaetlyn. There are many more that I can't think of off the top of my head. Also skaters who have gone through things much or as difficult as she has and have persevered. She also, isn't the only artistic skater. I just don't see how she is different from many many others and what seperates her, specifically, as one of the greats....

 

[tjb]

let me put alena leonova on the greatest list. she also battling evil teenagers and has a silver medal from worlds!

 

[Lester]

No offence taken; I hear it differently. She's not defeated by defeat. Or, another way to say it, she doesn't let results or the past dictate how she thinks, who she is being, how she sees her career, or how she sees her future. It's not over till it's over.

Eeer... what defeat? Self-sabotage maybe? Besides should we really give props to people for doing what is pretty much the expected norm just because they won't shut up about it?

 

[JSM]

This topic always seems to lead to: here is my favorite, and here are the criteria to make my favorite one of the best ever.

That said, the skaters who stick in my mind are those who strive through multiple Olympic cycles and who bring us performances to remember for a lifetime. Ito, Witt, Kostner, Kwan, Slutskaya, Asada, Kim. Aside from Kim and Witt, they don't have Olympic Gold, but they left their mark on the world, and skating is better for having them.

 

[skylark]

I dont see how Ashley can be considered one of the most successful.... I just don't see how she is different from many many others and what seperates her, specifically, as one of the greats....

That's fine, agree to disagree. The way I see it, this is an opinion thread, not debate or calculation. I'm considering a different definition of success:

What if "success" is defined as making something great out of your own (possibly limited) talent, fulfilling your potential, and influencing and encouraging others to do the same?

It's a broad definition. That's just the way I think. I've never forgotten a 1990s newspaper story about Nolan Ryan, a pro baseball pitcher who wasn't considered one of the top names, until his longevity set a record. Now his wiki page is pretty impressive.

I should probably add to the above, Ashley's courage in the face of great opposition from insiders and the ranks of fans. And her stubborn determination not to let the judgment of others stop her from being true to herself and to speak her truth.

 

[skylark]

should we really give props to people for doing what is pretty much the expected norm just because they won't shut up about it?

I don't think I asked others to disregard their opinions, join in with praise, or even agree. If you feel I did, that wasn't my intention. Carry on with your listing of whoever is you think is great and ... er .... vigorous opposition to whoever you think isn't.

This topic always seems to lead to: here is my favorite, and here are the criteria to make my favorite one of the best ever.

I'm withdrawing from the conversation. My apologies if I caused the thread to go off topic, but please, carry on.

 

[Dee4707]

This is interesting when considering "success" because while Sasha didn't have a lot of major gold hardware, she did have impact.

Yes, I agree that Sasha made an impact. I saw her in competition a couple of times and she was breathtaking as far as being exquisite.

Now....you won't believe this....I was just thinking about you the other day and wondered how KW was doing and that I haven't seen you on line for a while. Missed you and your comments!!

 

[JSM]

I don't think I asked others to disregard their opinions, join in with praise, or even agree. If you feel I did, that wasn't my intention. Carry on with your listing of whoever is you think is great and ... er .... vigorous opposition to whoever you think isn't.



I'm withdrawing from the conversation. My apologies if I caused the thread to go off topic, but please, carry on.

My comment wasn't directed at you, just a general observation of these types of threads.

 

[KwanfordWife]

Yes, I agree that Sasha made an impact. I saw her in competition a couple of times and she was breathtaking as far as being exquisite.

Now....you won't believe this....I was just thinking about you the other day and wondered how KW was doing and that I haven't seen you on line for a while. Missed you and your comments!!

I pop in to check out what's going on but I lost my password and couldn't log in...i finally just created a new account.

I will say the conversations have gotten much more polite over the two years I was gone...granted, i am on Twitter so it's all relative...

And no, Ashley Wagner, who has grown on me over the years, does not belong on a most successful list. Coolest? Intetesting? Best Under Dog? Yes to those categories but successful? Nope.

 

[Mathman]

I pop in to check out what's going on but I lost my password and couldn't log in...i finally just created a new account.

Welcome back. And thanks for the explanation. I was perplexed when I saw "KwanfordWife" with 4 posts. Is it the capital W that is different?

I will say the conversations have gotten much more polite over the two years I was gone...

Don't worry, another Olympics is upon us. There is sure to be some new controversy that we can wrangle over. :yes: