? Are you saying that Michael disagrees with my opinion that Sonja Henie is the all-time influential figure skater?
She also created the probably first mass audience for skating by becoming a Hollywood star with it. Hey, the films (as far as I've seen) are dreadful and largely forgotten now, but at the time...For starters, Henie single-handedly tossed men's skaiting in the garbage can and replaced it by ladies' skating. I gues that makes her the Caitlin Clark of skating.
Oh, I don't know, I don't know. Tai and Randy had never beaten Rodnina and Zaitzev in competition, and when they won 1979 worlds it was only because Rodnina took the year off to have a baby. At the 1980 Olympics Rodnina and Zaitsev won the short program with Tai and Randy second, before Randy's withdrawal.
She died with U.S.$ 50,000,000 in the bank. And back in the 1960s, fifty million dollars was actually some money, even for a sports star.
First of all were judging people, not ideas. But the point anyways is that a person could judge good or bad because good and bad people are ubiquitous; there is a massive reference. Meanwhile greatness is far and few, if existent at all; theres no reference; its a foreign concept completely to the average person.
Fatigue.
....until Yuzuru Hanyu came and made men's skating the most popular of FS disciplines again.? Are you saying that Michael disagrees with my opinion that Sonja Henie is the all-time influential figure skater?
For starters, Henie single-handedly tossed men's skaiting in the garbage can and replaced it by ladies' skating. I gues that makes her the Caitlin Clark of skating.
I guess that makes him.... well, Yuzuru Hanyu
It's funny how much a single lightning-in-a-bottle personality can shake things up. In the U.S., nobody cared about ice dance for -- well, forever. But our adopted fellow North Amreican team Bourne and Kraatz, followed by Belbin and Agosto and then Davis and White pumped the publicity in and turned it into a legimate discipline among U.S. fans. (Sort of... I think...)....until Yuzuru Hanyu came and made men's skating the most popular of FS disciplines again.
? Are you saying that Michael disagrees with my opinion that Sonja Henie is the all-time influential figure skater?
For starters, Henie single-handedly tossed men's skaiting in the garbage can and replaced it by ladies' skating. I gues that makes her the Caitlin Clark of skating.
....until Yuzuru Hanyu came and made men's skating the most popular of FS disciplines again.
So have we found the most influential couple of skaters in the unlikely duo of Sonja Henie - who took the public's love and attention from men and gave it to women - and Yuzuru Hanyu - who won it back for men again?
Sorry to break it to you but winning an Olympic gold medal is not a measure of greatness. It's just icing on the cake for certain athletic careers, and in some cases, lucky breaks where all the stars aligned and preparation matched the moment, the ambition, the talent, and the opportunity.
Yuzuru had it easier, women at this time became boring, with all the girls popping out for a season or two.So have we found the most influential couple of skaters in the unlikely duo of Sonja Henie - who took the public's love and attention from men and gave it to women - and Yuzuru Hanyu - who won it back for men again?
I love the spread across disciplines and generations, genders and continents, and skating styles, and yet keeping to the common topic of the audience love ...
Maybe, but if Yuna doesn't have a gold medal and Michelle has one, everybody will agreed about Michelle Kwan is higher in the "GOAT" list than Yuna. And as you can see on the thread, it's curently not the case
Ummm, I am pretty sure that to be in consideration for GOATedness, they do need to have amassed a pretty impressive haul of the blingy hardware, and we shouldn't sell Kwan short, her haul is right up there even without the OGM. And plenty of not-GOATS have the character and made the journey. Henie, Kim and Kwan all had enormous impact in their time, and it's probably everyone's individual judgement as to who had more worldwide.
Ummmmmm, a hell of a lot of people on this forum and elsewhere found the whole Team Tut years very very exciting. They weren't my thing but that doesn't mean the girls didn't have a huge profile and brought a lot of attention and buzz for their (individually) short times.
Ummmmmmmmm, no we wouldn't. As you can see, the arguments cover a good deal more than that one medal, both in achievements and influence. Not that the individual OGM doesn't matter a whole lot, it's the highest and most celebrated award available, but it can't exactly replace... well, a career.
Not that I say that they were poor skaters. It's only me who is interested in watching how a skater developes and matures. Like Kwan or Kostner. In fact it's not only these girs, I remember I was disappointed when Tara Lipinski appeared and vanished after 2 seasons. It was almost 20 years before we heard about Tutberidze and it seems I'm quite consistent in my view about fs
I think that we will have to wait and see. In the case of Sonja Henie we have had 100 years to evaluate her impact on the sport (for better or for worse). She introduced the idea that what the public really wants is short skirts and cute little white boots. A century later ladies still skate in short skirts and cute little white boots -- except for the ones that, like Henie herself, switched to cute little beige boots. Henie invented the technique of dancing on the toe-pick. In 2002 Alexei Yagudin (choreography by Morosov) chaneled Henie in his famous footwork sequence in the Olympic short program.
After all, he did it against the odds. From a no-name fed of a country normally not associated with winter sports to seven consecutive European titles, two World titles, and an Olympic medal - that's quite the accomplishment.
And beating Hanyu, Chan, Uno and other luminaries along the way.Maybe Javi is the GOAT?
Malinin himself explained his dream was to be the second coming of Yuzuru Hanyu, so here you are ...
