Skaters who revolutionized/made an impact in Figure Skating | Golden Skate

Skaters who revolutionized/made an impact in Figure Skating

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
while some skaters might be more liked/ talked about
it time we make a thread for the real legends / skaters who revolutioned FS

Ladies
* Cecilia Colledge - the original innovator of ladies FS, enough said
* Sonja Henie - her skating records rival that of her stardom status, the epitome of female hollywood skater, made the trend for short skirt for ladies
* Dorothy Hamil - introduced posture, elegance and refinement in ladies FS
* Elaine Zayak - pushed the number of triples the ladies can attempt in FS, has a rule named after her thanks to that, lol
* Midori Ito - a skater ahead of her time, still the best jumping machine
* Yuna Kim - consistency aside, she boosted CoP relevance for 3LZ-3T and 2Axels
* Mao Asada - her 3A attemps could be more legendary than her whole career history

Men
* Ulrich Salchow - the men's equivalent for Sonia Henie, World gold record holders and invented new jump
* Dick Button - the equivalent of Colledge, introduced innovations in men's FS
* John Curry - equivalent of Dorothy, introduced men's refinement , posture in FS
* Elvis Stojko - the original quad jumper
* Evgeni Plushenko - the face for 6.0 era, a man who has competed in different scoring eras
* Yuzuru Hanyu - the face for CoP, has pushed the envelope for maximing points

Pairs
* the Propotovs - There will be no modern Pairs today if it werent for the Propotovs, the greatest and the prototype of the modern pairs skating
* Mishkutenok /Dmitriev- introduced dynamism, difficulty and charisma in pairs skating
* Berezhnaya / Sikhuralidze- showed pairs skating is elegant, refined posture that every skater should aspire
* Shen / Zhao - introduced acrobatics in lifts, twists and pairs skating longevity can go up to where you want to go

Ice Dance
* Pakhomova / Gorshkov forget Torvil/Dean, it was G/P who revolutionized Ice dance, they were the prototypes of what is now Ice Dancing
* Klimova / Ponomarenko - introduced charisma, Ice Dance is not just elements back then, they showed true Ice Dance presentation
* Davis / White - combined dynamism, athleticism and power
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
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Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Country
United-States
Denise Biellman !! Um..they named a spin after her. First Lady to do a 3lz in competition too I believe.
 

sky_fly20

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Joined
Nov 20, 2011
I agree on your choices except Hanyu. I dont think he has done anything to revolutionize the sport yet. I am not even sure if Plushenko did anything to revolutionize the sport either. Stojko was the one who initiated the new quad trend, Plushenko was just one of many who helped to perfect it further.

I would say Torvill & Dean definititely revolutionized dance. They were the first to really create the theme based programs and pull them off so effectively, yet still mantain the highest technical level with it.

I would say Grischuk & Platov did too by bringing speed and attack in ice dancing to a new level.

I would say Virtue & Moir perhaps also for bringing romance and the man-women thing in an ice dance program back, which had been lost awhile.

Possibly Anissina & Peizerat as the ones who made lifts and highlights an integral part of ice dancing for the first time.

Yuzu is still young but he definitely has the makings of what Mao and Yuna will achieve in modern times
Virtue/Moir didn't bring anything new though, those emptions we can see that with Klimova/Ponomarenko that's why I did not mention them
same for Torvil/Dean they were just an upgrade for Pakhomova / Gorshkov

Pluhenko definitely a legend /revolutionary, the 6.0 was written for him and has competed in different scoring system
yet to get those medal achievements is undenaible

Grishuk / Platov introduced speed but some of their results were so questionable
I dont think they should be in the list
 

anyanka

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Denise Biellman !! Um..they named a spin after her. First Lady to do a 3lz in competition too I believe.

She certainly popularized it, but wasn't Moskvina the first to do it in competition? There's a clip of her doing it at the 1968 OG which I can no longer find but it was the last move in the program. Although Moskvina didn't raise a fuss when the spin was named after Biellmann IIRC.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Two names you listed stand out for me:

- Elvis Stoiko. Brought pure athleticism and man power to the Men figure skating. The first significant figure who showed the figure skating champion does not have to be a prince in tights and white lace gloves. The true winner of 1994. Urmanov would never be able to even touch him under CoP.

- Pakhomova/Gorshkov. They made the ice dancing the competitive sport, they brought it, they defined it. They whole competition should be named after them.
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Two names you listed stand out for me:


- Pakhomova/Gorshkov. They made the ice dancing the competitive sport, they brought it, they defined it. They whole competition should be named after them.

thats why I made this thread, to give tribute to real innovators
some think Torvil/Dean are epitome of Ice Dance but they all owe it to Pakhomova / Gorshkov, heck modern Ice Dancing is
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
while some skaters might be more liked/ talked about
it time we make a thread for the real legends / skaters who revolutioned FS

Ladies
* Cecilia Colledge - the original innovator of ladies FS, enough said
* Sonja Henie - her skating records rival that of her stardom status, the epitome of female hollywood skater, made the trend for short skirt for ladies
* Dorothy Hamil - introduced posture, elegance and refinement in ladies FS
* Midori Ito - a skater ahead of her time, still the best jumping machine
* Yuna Kim - consistency aside, she boosted CoP relevance for 3LZ-3T and 2Axels
* Mao Asada - her 3A attemps could be more legendary than her whole career history

Although I won't argue to remove any of these suggestions, I will add some.

Peggy Fleming probably did more than Dorothy Hamill to "introduce" posture, elegance and refinement in ladies FS, and that Janet Lynn set the standard for complex programs combined with freedom of movement -- to the point that many believe her superiority in free skating compared to school figures was the primary impetus for the introduction of the singles short program.

Hamill was the best of her era at the qualities you mention, but in some ways that represented the end rather than the beginning of a tradition, since her primary challengers were skaters who were ushering in the era of women doing triple jumps.

I'd also argue in favor of Elaine Zayak as revolutionizing women's jump content by packing her programs full of triples -- and in the process inspiring rules still in effect today to restrict repetition of the same jump.

Men
* Ulrich Salchow - the men's equivalent for Sonia Henie, World gold record holders and invented new jump
* Dick Button - the equivalent of Colledge, introduced innovations in men's FS
* Elvis Stojko - the original quad jumper
* Evgeni Plushenko - the face for 6.0 era, a man who has competed in different scoring eras
* Yuzuru Hanyu - the face for CoP, has pushed the envelope for maximing points

John Curry and Toller Cranston absolutely belong on any list of skaters who revolutionized figure skating.

Ice Dance
* Pakhomova / Gorshkov forget Torvil/Dean, it was G/P who revolutionized Ice dance, they were the prototypes of what is now Ice Dancing
* Klimova / Ponomarenko - introduced charisma, Ice Dance is not just elements back then, they showed true Ice Dance presentation
* Davis / White - combined dynamism, athleticism and power

And Torvill and Dean probably had more influence than any of the above.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Chan, Takahashi and Buttle were arguably the faces of CoP where a complete, well-rounded skater who mastered all facets of skating started to be appreciated, not just the jumps. The same way Curry revolutionized the sport artistically. I would arguably add Goebel and Fernandez for their technical brilliance and mastering quads and the 3-quad freeskate, in a similar way Plushenko/Yagudin/Stojko mastered the quad in general. Of course Yagudin is the perfect blend of artistry and athleticism and his Olympic performances still stand as the best of all time (although I'd put Hanyu's Sochi SP above his).

For ladies, Ito obviously. Kim as well given her balance of technical and artistic. Kwan for her artistry. Asada for pushing te technical envelope.

Pairs, Shen/Zhao - they were the first to really THROW and have huge twists. Before it was all about the SBS jumps but S/Z really drew attention to other spectacular elements.

Ice dance - D/W and V/M revolutionized how dance can be masterfully difficult and still artistically engaging. Torvill and Dean were the masters for their time and exhibited how ice dancing is an art but these two recent teams have showcased how ice dancing can be a sport, this changing the perceptions of many that ice dancing is merely theatre on ice.
 

jace93

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
stop pushing skaters who not deserve to be in the list
In No way does Chan an innovator, maybe an innovator in the number of falls

I must say that I would actually substitute yuzuru with chan, because he was the one that showed to the rest of the field that to be on top one should attempt the maximal difficulty possible, screw it if you were to fall...
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Everyone mentioned so far has made an impact, as have others not yet mentioned. But I tend to think the bar is higher for "revolutionized."

Maybe we should divide the discussion by who revolutionized technical content (and what kinds), who revolutionized artistry/presentation standards, who introduced new, lasting strategies for how to strategize winning programs, etc.

I think it's too soon to say that anyone still competing in 2014 has had a lasting impact -- we don't know how long their influence will be felt.
 

pohatta

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
I don't think you need to be a major champion to make an impact. Surely Lucinda Ruh made an impact with her spins, more than many winners. Also some Rahkamo&Kokko routines were considered revolutionary in their theatricality.
 

TheGrandSophy

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
stop pushing skaters who not deserve to be in the list
In No way does Chan an innovator, maybe an innovator in the number of falls

Surely the point of this type of thread is for everyone to have a say about who they think deserves to be on the list, not for one poster to be able to give the yea or nay?

What about the guy who innovated the Lutz (Alois Lutz, I have just read)? Has he been mentioned?
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I agree with most of the choices in the opening post, with a few additions/comments:

- Michelle Kwan: If Plush was the face of 6.0 for men (though Plush also had success under COP), then Michelle was the face of 6.0 for women. Not only was she responsible for ushering in the 7-triple long program, she also contributed to the idea of a good "overall effect," the whole being the greater than the sum of the parts (which is important under 6.0, imo, since you're giving one holistic mark rather than breaking the program down as in COP).

- G&G for pairs: They make difficult skates look flowing and effortless. They're the face of one type of pair skating, at least.

- Torvill & Dean need to be mentioned. At the very least, they made everyone strive for that perfect 6.0. ;)

- I would say Virtue/Moir are more important for the sport than Davis/White, though that could be my personal bias, as well as the "firsts" achieved by Virtue/Moir (first North American team to win OGM, youngest team to win OGM).

- I think we should leave Hanyu off the list until his career progresses further. It's much too soon to call. There's an argument to be made for Chan, though again, I think we should let his "legacy" sit and stew for a while before declaring him one of the innovators.

- I'm on the fence about Alexei Yagudin. His Olympic skates will go down as one of the best pair of Olympic-winning skates ever, but I'm not sure if he "revolutionized" figure skating. He simply went out there with beautifully programs and skated them well. And that's perfectly fine, of course. Still, he is important as one-half of the rivalry that pushed the sport to new heights in a small amount of time, even if Plushenko was the one who initiated most of the technical pushes.

- This may be neither here or there, but I think Plushenko's longevity, successful comeback(s), and determination to remain in the sport are as significant as his 6.0 success. If we look at almost all the Olympic winners before him, they either retired quickly (Kulik, Yagudin), or continued/came back but were not very successful (Urmanov, Petrenko, Boitano). Of course, some of it has to do with situation (back in the day, pro careers were a bigger thing than they are now, Yagudin's hip, ect. ect.). And time will tell if Plushenko's comebacks will inspire other people to stay in sport. But I think it is something worth mentioning/considering.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
stop pushing skaters who not deserve to be in the list
In No way does Chan an innovator, maybe an innovator in the number of falls

You mean like you pushing Hanyu when he has had one good season and other skaters like Chan and Buttle were maximizing the system long before Hanyu? :laugh: You dare talk about falls when every one of Hanyu's major wins this season had a fall? When his OGM performance had 2 falls - the worst ever by an OGM?

Chan is an innovator. He actually incorporates every turn into his program and his skating skills are second to none.

You on the other hand are a hater. You incorporate every spiteful comment into your posts and your bashing skills and anti-Canadian sentiments are second to none.
 
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