- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
His participation was in 2008, but of course the victory on Eurovision also supported his fame. I think Plushenko's longevity ( the Russians read about him, watch him since 1996), victories, medals are the explanation.
The greatest female Russian singles skater
- Thread starter Skater Boy
- Start date
His participation was in 2008, but of course the victory on Eurovision also supported his fame. I think Plushenko's longevity ( the Russians read about him, watch him since 1996), victories, medals are the explanation.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
I didn't even know who Plushy was until 1999 but, the fact that he's about have a second career as high level coach after winning multi-National, European, and World Championships. Add that to his OGM, OSM, and Team Gold. IMO, He is the pride of Russian Skating and easily the most famous and the most recognizable skater when he travels outside of Russia. What do Russians think about Plushy? Is he the most popular skater or is it Yagudin?
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
Irina Slutskaya came out of the skating time frame I loved the most (2002-2006). I always loved her Tosca, and Cotton-Eyed Joe programs.
Yuliya Lipnitskaya, in my mind was to take the place of Sasha Cohen as one of my favorites, so I took note of her but it didn't turn out that way.
So I am excited for the new skating season to see how Evgenia Medvedeva does.
As of right now I will say that Irina holds the title for -The greatest female Russian singles skater.
Yuliya Lipnitskaya, in my mind was to take the place of Sasha Cohen as one of my favorites, so I took note of her but it didn't turn out that way.
So I am excited for the new skating season to see how Evgenia Medvedeva does.
As of right now I will say that Irina holds the title for -The greatest female Russian singles skater.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2017
Me being biased: Elena
Me being logical and unbiased: irina
Me being logical and unbiased: irina
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
Quoting titles is not really good reason for why someone is the greatest skater. Slutskaya lacked stretch, depth of performance, and interesting movement for the majority of her career. She had strong jumps but her hard jump difficulty (the Triple-Triple combos) was never consistent. In my mind that doesn't equate to being the greatest ever. She didn't deserve many of those titles anyway and was held up a lot if you ask me.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2017
I think Evgenia is the best ladies skater in Russia. She really pushed the sport to develop further, and she's inspired a future generation of juniors who try to be like her. And she is absolutely phenomenal.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2014
I always had such a soft spot for Irina Slutskaya. She was such a trooper.
A lot of my favourite pair skaters are Russian (dancers too) but Ladies has always been my least favourite discipline. The heartbreak, the tears, it's all too much.
I would say if Evgenia can win the OGM and the worlds this year then she would be the top female Russian figure skater of all time (3 world titles, one Olympic gold). It would put her in very, very Elite company. I know Katerina had 2 OGM and I believe 4 world titles. Kristie only had 2 World titles, Tara and Oksana and Shizuka only had one, Kim had two and Adelina never won a world title.
A lot of my favourite pair skaters are Russian (dancers too) but Ladies has always been my least favourite discipline. The heartbreak, the tears, it's all too much.
I would say if Evgenia can win the OGM and the worlds this year then she would be the top female Russian figure skater of all time (3 world titles, one Olympic gold). It would put her in very, very Elite company. I know Katerina had 2 OGM and I believe 4 world titles. Kristie only had 2 World titles, Tara and Oksana and Shizuka only had one, Kim had two and Adelina never won a world title.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
When we're talking about greatest across generations. legacy has to be the most important criterion, and that's Irina. Evgenia could very well surpass her with an OGM though. If she quits after that though, it's hard for someone who competed at the senior level for less than an entire Olympic quad to establish that much of a legacy. Irina's long career gives her an edge in that regard.
Sorry, but who else can challenge her as the greatest among Russian skaters? If beautiful skating is enough, maybe it should be Katia Gordeeva. Sotnikova and Tukt are great jumpers but don't have a consistent competitive record. With Med, it's too soon to say. Will she be a Tara Lipinski, here today and gone tomorrow? We'll see. Slute was never a favorite of mine, but her competitive fire and presence on the ice cannot be denied. She was at or near the top of the world for nearly a decade. No other Russian ladies skater can touch that, at least not yet.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2012
I may have missed Leonova and ET but I don't think Yamaguchi would be considered as a great champ. If you took her performances as a pro maybe but her amateur programs while good not overly great I think she won with a fall and her longevity was not as an amateur. She was a pretty American princess type skater with consistent jumps. her jumps were not wow like Ito or even Harding. Her artistry was nice but she was no Kwan, Kim, Asada orKostner even. Her spins were fine but no Swiss marvel. She was not not magical to most. But we digress - Russian greats ow could i forget ET and Leonova.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2015
If Medvedeva wins the OGM, she will be the greatest, for total dominance for the entire 15-18 cicle (overscored but deserved), many many golds, technicall consistency and artistry (like her programs or not, she's an artist). If she doesn't win, we'll have to discuss this again for years until 2022.
- Joined
- May 17, 2017
Whatever you say, Slutkaya lasted much longer than most of ladies these days. Greatest ever doesn't necessarily have to do with talent. Her longevity on the top itself is something not many top ladies can overcome.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
Plushenko is. But that is another thread.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
Again, that's all just superficiality to me. The results someone gets on paper doesn't speak to their actual skating quality in terms of what is the greatest ever. That's just what happened to be the competition results, for whatever reason it happened. The biggest thing longevity means to me is how much variance of choreography and interpretation a skater was able to successfully execute. Slutskaya is very lacking in this regard.
Sotnikova and Lipnitskaya at their best are better in my mind than the best of Slutskaya. Medvedeva maybe can go in this category too, but she has yet to impress me enough to say for sure. None of her moves are WOW and her programs don't reach artistic greatness, she's too focused on staying within the limited box her coach has placed her in. If she ever gets a better program and is able to execute it with real emotion, that would make a big difference.
That's exactly what it means. Looking at the peaks of what is possible in figure skating. Not just repetition.
I am another SLutskaya voter but I am another of the people who do think longevity plays a factor (More than Olympic Golds - look at Kurt Browning who I think is the greatest male figure skater ever). I loved Slutskaya when she started - her sheer joy at skating was really infectious - but she won me over into being a fan over time. Lipnistkaya had the presence to do that, but her skating didn't hold up - it would be difficult to vote for her. Sotnikova won OG too early. I think she had the potential to be amazing and I think we were deprived of that. She always felt a more well rounded skater than Tukt. Medvedeva I find difficult to judge. Her ability to garner all the points she can and her consistency is remarkable, but I never look forward to her programs though I can appreciate their execution. I don't know how she would have held up in the 6.0 era. Slutskaya learnt to manage both though Medvedeva is a better exponent of IJS as it currently stands. I certainly found Slutskaya more exciting but that again is personal. Trying to weigh all the different factors up brings me back to longevity at the top and hence to Slutskaya though on that measure Butyrskaya gives a close fight.
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2014
Well, for now it is Slutskaya IMHO. She was the face of Russian ladies figure skating for a very long time, she was a unique skater and won a ton of medals. She really left a mark in the sport and that's what makes you "great". Adelina will forever be a huge question mark. Who knows what she could have done? She was a child prodigy and I feel like in Sochi she had just started to really find her dimension as a Senior skater. I never truly loved her style, but that's just personal taste. She had the jumps, the spins, the SS, and a developing artistry that I would have loved to see blooming. She is the missing factor that would have made this quadriennial much more interesting, and it's just a shame! The youngsters (Medvedeva included) still have to produce a legacy of some sort to be called "great". Evgenia has her merits, but she also had the luck to grow up as the underdog in a super competitive field and then enter a senior category without clear rivals: Tuktamysheva took herself out of the equation, Radionova lost her spark, Anna was never that consistent, the Americans even worse, the Canadians started to realise their potential just last season, and the Japanese were in a rebuilding phase. This season will be more interesting and will give more perspective to Evgenia's success
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