In my lifetime, I would say Kwan is the best competitive skater. However, if we're talking about most artistically beautiful skater, in my opinion, she wouldn't be in the running.
She may not be considered as the greatest, but my favorite is Arakawa. She's as near to perferction as you can get: Stong, feminin and technicly great.
Witt for me. She's not my favourite female skater by any means, but one cannot discuss two Oly Gold medals away.
Another fact is - it's an English speaking board with an overwhelming majority of US posters here; It's quite ... "logical" ... Kwan won, no matter what.
1. You-Na Kim (not yet a world champion but really the best ladie´s
figure skater of all time
2. Irina Slutskaya (she was always better than Michelle Kwan)
3. Shizuka Arakawa (only two great performances [world 2004 and Olympics
2006], but for the eternity
Record for record, title for title, performannce for performance - who's better? Just because you're not a fan doesn't mean you can discount her impact, longevity and ability to deliver over and over and over...
Quality is quality regardless of what language you speak... :yes::yes:
I'm tempted to pick Sonja Henie or Katarina Witt since they both won so many world & olympic titles. However, I pick Peggy Fleming because she was so graceful, so elegant, and really the image of US figure skating rising from the tragedy in 1961.
I was a bit reluctant to vote on this poll because there are so many young ladies nowadays that can take the place of the "most talented skater of all time" ... Michelle Kwan had very heartfelt performances, but her technical elements are largely overrated. Both Kristi Yumaguchi and Irina Slutskaya had two of the most famous jumping talents in history. But they are not the "best in all aspects". I'll see what happens to Yu-na Kim, Caorline Zhang, and Mirai Nagasu, but until then, I don't feel qualified enough to choose anyone.