Best skaters who won only one world title

Skater Boy · May 7, 2016

Jammers said:
I second that comment. Janet had no weaknesses in her skating other then figures which unfortunately counted for about half of the total score back then. People almost forget that Janet was also a very good jumper while Sasha's jumps were not top notch to be honest. If Janet had been born even a decade later she would have easily been landing triple jumps.

It is so hard for me at least to compare skaters like Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn or Sonja Henie - something pre 1984 from the videos i have seen makes them look so slow and the jumps rather weak - maybe they are too open. i cant describe it but the flow is not as strong or consistent versus now or in the later 80's. Even Witt's jumps look bigger, stronger and the whole program or programs like manley and ito had much almost more power and flow and speed. like we are cheering on a kid who doesn't have the power or flow and does a little jump and we go all crazy over it. iF you copare say the double flip of Trenary and Manley versus a fleming or lynn there is huge difference it seems in power and flower and amplitude favoring the late 80's skaters.

Skater Boy · May 7, 2016

RABID said:
My post didn't go through so I hope this isn't a double post but.. Caro. she was a full member of that triad which include Yuna and Mao and unlike those two ladies she only has one championship to her name ( I think Stephan Lambiel inferred that she was the best of the them).

When Carolina is on she is amazing but compared to Chan or Fernandez she is even more inconsistent than them and while they have had stinkers especially Chan they look clean compared to some of Caro's. When she did some real horror stories and not artistically lol, she was held up with a crane and concrete reinforcers.

Ice Dance · May 7, 2016

Skater Boy said:
I have to say i agree and disagree. Anissina and Peizerat were wonderful but they easily could have had no world title and deservedly so to a team that never reached its full potential due to sadly injury Krylova and Oksianikov had to bow out and deserve to be considered. Almost an asterik to A and ps oly gold i know life isn't fair but to be balanced like k and o or not a good argument can be made they got more than what could have been or even should have been depending on your perspective.

You may disagree all you would like, and I certainly wasn't undermining K&O (or Fusar-Poli & Margaglio's wins). But the 1999 Worlds remains one of the closest World Championships in ice dance history. It was one of the only Worlds in which the silver medalists won the original dance. And Anissina & Peizerat were the team that accomplished that feat. Then there was a 5/4 ordinal split in the free dance. One more ordinal and A&P would have won the event. It WAS a close competition. That much is indisputable.

Ares · May 7, 2016

I know that people mentioned them already but it won't hurt to remind that Midori Ito won only one World title. I am baffled whenever I check that. She was so ahead of her time. Interestingly enough the other pioneer: Denise Biellmann also have only one gold medal from that event. Another great skater with one title: Daisuke Takahashi, he was among my very favourite skaters. Nevertheless I think that he pretty much maximized his potential.

Dr. Jenn · May 7, 2016

Ares said:
I know that people mentioned them already but it won't hurt to remind that Midori Ito won only one World title. I am baffled whenever I check that. She was so ahead of her time. Interestingly enough the other pioneers: Denise Biellmann and Kurt Browning also have only one gold medal from that event. Another great skater with one title: Daisuke Takahashi, he was among my very favourite skaters. Nevertheless I think that he pretty much maximized his potential.

Kurt Browning won four world championship gold medals: 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Figure_Skating_Championships

iluvtodd · May 7, 2016

^ What is heartbreaking to me is that Kurt doesn't have an Olympic medal of any color (sometimes things just don't go your way in the Olympics)

, but he has accomplished so much in the sport that @ this point it doesn't matter! He's a legend!

Ares · May 7, 2016

Dr. Jenn said:
Kurt Browning won four world championship gold medals: 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Figure_Skating_Championships

I confused Worlds with Olympics I guess.

4everchan · May 7, 2016

i was surprised too with Midori Ito... wow... only one title...

I replied quickly in haste with Lu Chen and Bourne and Kraatz... but yeah I'd add Midori Ito and Daisuke and Jeff Buttle and yuka sato (I adored her skating when i was a kid... i will always remember the Surya Bonaly pissed off moment at the podium)

i feel Dubreuil-Lauzon should have won a title too but they had to skate for silver a couple times...

Did anyone mention Brasseur and Eisler ? They were skating in the great era of Russian pair skating but WOW their pair elements were so good.... but they were always dinged on the artistic impression side... and sometimes, she did fall under pressure... but they did win a world title and deserved it!!! Great great skating!

mrrice · May 7, 2016

LiamForeman said:
Funny MrRice, I never took myself seriously as a dancer. I was strictly B+, maybe A- at the absolute best. Except I had no nerves and knew how to BRING it to a comp or audition. I mean, what? I'm going to screw myself with nerves? Never. There is so much to be said for just laying it down when it counts. I don't see Medvedeva's brilliance but I do see her ability to lay it down. Gracie should train with her.

I LOVE this comment!!!! Believe me, I was exactly the same way about auditioning. I had nerves of steel and I think Med does too. I really think Gracie could use a training mate like Med who "Seems" to let the stress of the big moments roll off her tiny shoulders.

Jammers · May 7, 2016

Skater Boy said:
It is so hard for me at least to compare skaters like Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn or Sonja Henie - something pre 1984 from the videos i have seen makes them look so slow and the jumps rather weak - maybe they are too open. i cant describe it but the flow is not as strong or consistent versus now or in the later 80's. Even Witt's jumps look bigger, stronger and the whole program or programs like manley and ito had much almost more power and flow and speed. like we are cheering on a kid who doesn't have the power or flow and does a little jump and we go all crazy over it. iF you copare say the double flip of Trenary and Manley versus a fleming or lynn there is huge difference it seems in power and flower and amplitude favoring the late 80's skaters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJy10jNvvCs

Please tell me that Janet looked slow in this performance from 1970. Janet's skating was so fluid and her flow was so good that she might not have seen powerful or fast but she was both. Neither Trenary or Manley were in her league as a skater that's why people still talk about Janet but Jill and Liz are rarely ever mentioned.

jenaj · May 7, 2016

Skater Boy said:
It is so hard for me at least to compare skaters like Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn or Sonja Henie - something pre 1984 from the videos i have seen makes them look so slow and the jumps rather weak - maybe they are too open. i cant describe it but the flow is not as strong or consistent versus now or in the later 80's. Even Witt's jumps look bigger, stronger and the whole program or programs like manley and ito had much almost more power and flow and speed. like we are cheering on a kid who doesn't have the power or flow and does a little jump and we go all crazy over it. iF you copare say the double flip of Trenary and Manley versus a fleming or lynn there is huge difference it seems in power and flower and amplitude favoring the late 80's skaters.

Janet wasn't slow and was a powerful jumper. Check out her skate at 1973 Worlds. If she were graded on skating skills like skaters are today, she would deserve straight 10s.

Jammers · May 7, 2016

jenaj said:
Janet wasn't slow and was a powerful jumper. Check out her skate at 1973 Worlds. If she were graded on skating skills like skaters are today, she would deserve straight 10s.

Also Janet wasn't practicing triple jumps because no woman was doing them really until the end of the 1970's but if Janet came along even 10 years later she would have been doing them with ease i bet.

Skater Boy · May 7, 2016

I guess I am from a different generation but there is something that i can't describe - look at when ito or manley did double jumps and the power they have. janet was good for her era but you can't compare her to the 80s, 80's or kwan era and the yuna/mao/caro era or the new era of baby skaters . AND WHEN i say you can't compare i mean it is a different period of time, different scoring system and all. you cannot use the new system really to fairly judge past performances because had the skaters back then known you need to do 3 revolutions in change of position or need more changes of position in a spin etc well they may have done it. i think it is clear janet lynn was a wonderful skater and i agree with that she was the best free skater of her competitive era but that wasn't the scorings system. i don't thin her doubles mean she realistically would be a good triple jumper huge difference between a double and a triple. i am not so sure people don't talk about trenary or manley - i think it depends when you were born or around in part. because no one in my era really knows who janet lynn is unless you are a diehard. she skated before we were born

mrrice · May 7, 2016

jenaj said:
Janet wasn't slow and was a powerful jumper. Check out her skate at 1973 Worlds. If she were graded on skating skills like skaters are today, she would deserve straight 10s.

Another thing to take into consideration is the huge amount of a skaters training time was spent working on figures. I have no doubt that with Janet's speed and the height that she got in her jumps that triples would not have been out of reach for her. I remember the year that Jill Trenary won figures by a large amount when Midori made an unfortunate mistake during figures. I think it was in 1990.

jenaj · May 7, 2016

Skater Boy said:
I guess I am from a different generation but there is something that i can't describe - look at when ito or manley did double jumps and the power they have. janet was good for her era but you can't compare her to the 80s, 80's or kwan era and the yuna/mao/caro era or the new era of baby skaters . AND WHEN i say you can't compare i mean it is a different period of time, different scoring system and all. you cannot use the new system really to fairly judge past performances because had the skaters back then known you need to do 3 revolutions in change of position or need more changes of position in a spin etc well they may have done it. i think it is clear janet lynn was a wonderful skater and i agree with that she was the best free skater of her competitive era but that wasn't the scorings system. i don't thin her doubles mean she realistically would be a good triple jumper huge difference between a double and a triple. i am not so sure people don't talk about trenary or manley - i think it depends when you were born or around in part. because no one in my era really knows who janet lynn is unless you are a diehard. she skated before we were born

I wasn't a fan of Janet's from way back. I became a fan from watching her on YouTube. She actually tried some triples back in the day, including at the 1968 Olympics when she was just 14. I have no doubt she would have been able to do them all if she had had the training time. She had very good height and distance and her double axel was as good or better than any you see nowadays. There was no incentive to do triples in her day when figures were 50% of the score and required many hours of training.

mrrice · May 7, 2016

I was trying to think of the best skaters that have zero world titles. I guess Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, and another skater who people don't talk about very much, Russia's Viktoria Volchkova. Julia Sebestyen, Vanessa Gusmeroli, Angela Nikodinov, and Elena Liashenko also come to mind.

Blades of Passion · May 7, 2016

mrrice said:
Viktoria Volchkova, Elena Liashenko

*blank stare*

mrrice · May 7, 2016

Blades of Passion said:
*blank stare*

Seriously?? Vicky V. had big jumps and Elena Liashenko was always in the final flight or close to it, wasn't she? I only saw her live twice. The last time in 2001 and she was fast as lightening around the rink. Weird jump set ups but, she didn't fall which is more than I can say for the skaters who went just before her. Including poor yet, oh so beautiful Jennifer Robinson.

Here's Viki from 2000 Trophee Lalique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOCp04Ynlj0

Osmond4gold · May 7, 2016

noskates said:
Yuka Sato. I remember Scott Hamilton saying that she was a "skater's skater" and that you rarely heard her blades on the ice because she was so light and smooth. I believe she won her World title in an Olympic year and several of the top skaters had chosen not to skate Worlds. It's always been a pleasure to watch her skate.

I believe Sato won the year Surya Bonaly refused to step on the silver podium, then when presented with a medal, took it off in protest. All the while Momma Bonaly was orchestrating from rinkside.

Def., one of the low moments of the sport.

mrrice · May 7, 2016

Osmond4gold said:
I believe Sato won the year Surya Bonaly refused to step on the silver podium, then when presented with a medal, took it off in protest. All the while Momma Bonaly was orchestrating from rinkside.

Def., one of the low moments of the sport.

That's exactly when it happened. On the freakin' Podium.......How Klassy.........:disapp:

Here's the Ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZaggLIeGzY

Best skaters who won only one world title

Skater Boy

Skater Boy

Ice Dance

Ares

Dr. Jenn

iluvtodd

Ares

4everchan

mrrice

Jammers

jenaj

Jammers

Skater Boy

mrrice

jenaj

mrrice

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be

mrrice

Osmond4gold

mrrice

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