Ages of ladies medalists over the years | Golden Skate

Ages of ladies medalists over the years

Spirit

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Someone mentioned in another thread that the medalists were all women this time, not girls, and wondered when that had last happened. I thought it was a good question, so I did some research and started a new thread.

(The ages given throughout this post are approximate, because I don't feel like looking up the exact dates of each Olympics. I just looked at the year of birth and the year of competition and did a simple subtraction. I didn't say this was deep research.)

The last time we had an all-woman podium was at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville.

  • Gold: Kristi Yamaguchi, 21
  • Silver: Midori Ito, 23
  • Bronze: Nancy Kerrigan, 23

I believe that almost every Olympics before that (starting with the era of Witt and Thomas and going backwards) consisted of winners who were women.

Here's what happened between then and now:

1994:
  • Gold: Oksana Baiul, 15
  • Silver: Nancy Kerrigan, 25
  • Bronze: Lu Chen, 16

1998:
  • Gold: Tara Lipinski, 15
  • Silver: Michelle Kwan, 17 (if the Olympics were held before July, which I'm pretty sure they were)
  • Bronze: Lu Chen, 20

2002:
  • Gold: Sarah Hughes, 16
  • Silver: Irina Slutskaya, 23
  • Bronze: Michelle Kwan, 21

2006:
  • Gold: Shizuka Arakawa, 24
  • Silver: Sasha Cohen, 21
  • Bronze: Irina Slutskaya, 27


Edited to remove a lame joke.
 
Last edited:

SusanBeth

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Spirit said:
Someone mentioned in another thread that the medalists were all women this time, not girls, and wondered when that had last happened. I thought it was a good question, so I did some research and started a new thread.

(The ages given throughout this post are approximate, because I don't feel like looking up the exact dates of each Olympics. I just looked at the year of birth and the year of competition and did a simple subtraction. I didn't say this was deep research.)

The last time we had an all-woman podium was at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville.

  • Gold: Kristi Yamaguchi, 21
  • Silver: Midori Ito, 23
  • Bronze: Nancy Kerrigan, 23

I believe that almost every Olympics before that (starting with the era of Witt and Thomas and going backwards) consisted of winners who were women.

Here's what happened between then and now:

1994:
  • Gold: Oksana Baiul, 15
  • Silver: Nancy Kerrigan, 25
  • Bronze: Lu Chen, 16

1998:
  • Gold: Tara Lipinski, 15
  • Silver: Michelle Kwan, 17 (if the Olympics were held before July, which I'm pretty sure they were)
  • Bronze: Lu Chen, 20

2002:
  • Gold: Sarah Hughes, 16
  • Silver: Irina Slutskaya, 23
  • Bronze: Michelle Kwan, 21

2006:
  • Gold: XMao Asada, 15X Shizuka Arakawa, 25
  • Silver: Sasha Cohen, 21
  • Bronze: Irina Slutskaya, 27

Ok, I have to object to the Mao Asada. I have nothing against the girl, but think it very wrong to give that honor where it has not been earned. "What ifs" and "could haves" count for zip. She's not the Olympic Champion and doesn't deserve that credit. Plus, it takes a cheap shot at those who have earned their placements.

I am not sure that maturity of performance is strictly tied to chronological age. I think experience has much more to do with it. So I don't get the objection to young skaters on the podium. Michelle skated wonderful, mature programs at 17 that others can't match at 27. It would be interesting to see how many years each champion had skated at the senior worlds. I think Baiul had the least experience with only 1 year.

Also, in the old days of amateur skating. Nobody hung around for very long. They couldn't afford to do so. Dorothy retired at 19. Janet Lynn and Peggy Fleming (I believe) also retired at 19. They each had several years of experience at the world level by that time. So the problem people have with young champions is really something new.
 

Spirit

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
SusanBeth said:
Ok, I have to object to the Mao Asada. I have nothing against the girl, but think it very wrong to give that honor where it has not been earned. "What ifs" and "could haves" count for zip. She's not the Olympic Champion and doesn't deserve that credit. Plus, it takes a cheap shot at those who have earned their placements.
It was a joke. Chill. I don't care about Mao's age one way or the other.

SusanBeth said:
So I don't get the objection to young skaters on the podium.
Since I never said I objected to young skaters on the podium, I don't get this comment. And for the record, I don't object to it. Okey dokey?

Are we feeling a little edgy today? Perhaps paranoid that everyone has an agenda? My post was simply an observation for discussion, with what I thought was a touch of humor thrown in at the end. Sorry if you didn't get that.
 

Spirit

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Red Dog said:
is Shizuka 24 or 25?
She's 24.

I said 25 because I just subtracted 1981 from 2006 (like I said, ages are approximate, and I was doing this quickly because I was on my lunch break). But her birth date is December 29, 1981, so she's 24. If she'd been born 3 days later, I'd have been right. :)
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
It didn't exactly come across as a joke IMO. Maybe if an emoticon were thrown in...

Then again, maybe I don't have this type of sense of humor.
 

Spirit

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Red Dog said:
It didn't exactly come across as a joke IMO. Maybe if an emoticon were thrown in...

Then again, maybe I don't have this type of sense of humor.
Nah, an emoticon wouldn't work there.

Now that I re-read it, it does look awfully snarky, doesn't it?

So, sorry everyone. I meant nothing by it, but I'll just err on the side of caution to avoid further flames, so --- EDITED. I just don't have the energy.
 

SusanBeth

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Spirit said:
Nah, an emoticon wouldn't work there.

Now that I re-read it, it does look awfully snarky, doesn't it?

So, sorry everyone. I meant nothing by it, but I'll just err on the side of caution to avoid further flames, so --- EDITED. I just don't have the energy.

I am sorry, if you thought my post was intended as a flame. I swear that I am much better at flaming than that. If I intended to flame you, you would be feeling decidedly crispy by now!;) No honestly I didn't get the joke. After all the hype about Mao, it's way too easy to take it seriously.

The rest of my post was seriously addressed to the issue rather than you. I keep seeing posts about "girl" champions. However, there have always been "girl" champions. Really when you look back, it's been rare to have lady champions in their 20's. That has only been happening since "amateur" status bit the dust. Of course, in the earliest days of competition, there were married women competing. That went out when the virginal, young ice princess became the ideal.

People seem to tie in the age drop with lack of figures and to some extent it may be true. However, we have seen more older skaters in recent years too. I don't think ages alone are important. Younger girls have given many mature performances. I think it's the level of experience that really matters most.
 
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