This thread has a serious flaw that I must address. It is nearing 100 posts, and yet no one has mentioned Irina Rodnina.
Now, I love the Protopopov's. I think they represent the pinnacle of one type of pairs skating. But Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov (and later with Alexander Zaitsev) followed them with a completely different style - strong, fast, and athletic. They were a brand new breed of pair skaters.
And, by the way, if you're looking for a competitive legacy... with two different partners and a baby thrown in for good measure...
3 Olympic Titles
10 World Titles
11 European Titles
Beginning with her first European Title in 1969 until her retirement following the Lake Placid Olympic Games in 1980, she NEVER lost a competition. EVER.
I remember seeing Irina Rodnina walking through North Station in Boston in 2001. The US championships were at the "Fleet Center" (now Boston Garden again) which is attached to the train station. I assume she must have been there in some coaching capacity.
The Scandinavian/Russian from 3000 BC who used primitive animal bone ice skates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_figure_skating
I'm always stunned that people forget about him/her. Such disrespect.
well, he was mentioned but there were not all the reasons here
Evgeni Plushenko
-in Europe he is the figure skating
-his achievements: titles, medals, records, quads - everything on wiki
-his longevity
-demand that men's skating include quads
-innovation: the first male skater to perform the Biellmann spin in the senior competitions. At the 1999 NHK Trophy, he became the first skater to perform a 4T–3T–2Lo combination in competition. He has since landed the combination 26 times. He is also the first to land 4T–3T–3Lo and 3A-1Lo-3F in competition. He first landed the combination at the 2002 Cup of Russia and has since landed it four times.He is the first skater to complete the 3A-3F combination. ( wikipedia)
-he inspired the next generation in Russia and outside of Russia. He has fans among the skating stars.
-he has own shows not only the Kings on Ice but they created 3 great original shows :
the Snow King 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8aICnWCyOo with original music! Probably they used acrobats, artist from the circus..
the Nutcracker 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVS1qlXLXkY - this is unique ice show set on a frozen theatre stage. He was one of the choreographers.
Hundreds of thousands of viewers have been seen the shows in Russia and some neighboring countries.
And the new one the Swan Lake 2018 with live music. It will be very unique. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo3cMajHqZq/ ballet and
skating together. Olga Smirnova ( ballerina of Bolshoi) Sergei Filin is the choreographer, ex Bolshoi director, Adelina Sotnikova
-the cooperations with Edvin Marton, live music, Stradivari violin, winner of European Song Contest
-he has figure skating academy. I'm sure he will be a succesful coach. His legacy will increase! (And those persons who hate him on Hanyu's forum can start to kill themself)
... here you can also see how it works in real life (they actually used elk bone).
(Yuna Kim)
1, influenced a generation of skaters (male, female, korean, non-korean), created global figure skating fans and figure skating cultures (from figure skating traditional power country to figure skating desert country).
6, hundreds of years from today, as long as there is humanity (and perhaps no borders of any kind ), when thinking about the sports of figure skating, people probably will still go back to watch Yuna's performances, simple because it is GREAT.
1988's showgirl SP for me, it's utter genius of choreography.
I'd like to add Tai & Randy as legends for American pairs. Fantastic competition and exhibition skaters from 1974-1979 who were never quite the same after their Olympic disappointment. Fans were drooling over the 1980 Olympic showdown with Rodnina Zaitsev that was derailed by injury.
Hanyu's using Pllushenko's music, not emulating his style. Their skating are completely different. Now, say Johnny Weir, and it's a different story.
idk, I think you could also call it a legacy. She was the reason the sport exploded in 1994 in the US. People could not get enough of it. Skaters mentioned in this thread as having legacies: Boitano, Hamilton, Browning, Yamaguchi, Kwan, etc all benefited from it. Her legacy isn't a positive one, but it put figure skating in the public consciousness in a way it hadn't been in decades... and sadly I think Tonya will be well remembered by generations not yet known while the others may fade.
I thought I read interviews or ariticles from Curt or someone else that Tonya's infamy killed the pro skating circuit. I don't know what he means by it, but I remember there being more of an after amateur competitive career with shows etc. I don't think I'm imagining that ice shows are suffering in North America (while the opposite is true in Japan with the number and proliferation of ice shows now).
I thought I read interviews or ariticles from Curt or someone else that Tonya's infamy killed the pro skating circuit. I don't know what he means by it, but I remember there being more of an after amateur competitive career with shows etc. I don't think I'm imagining that ice shows are suffering in North America (while the opposite is true in Japan with the number and proliferation of ice shows now).
No, I totally can see your point. I agree about T and M yet somehow they overtook and beat S and Z fair and square. But I guess the term legacy can mean a lot or a little. I agree also about for example G and P I mean really it is in the eye of the beholder, depends what you use as definitions,, and at the risk of being shot, I thing this Forum while we try to be objective like judges lol we are prone to our biases and who we like..There are definitely some definitional issues with the thread. I just think we should let the current skaters do their thing and judge their legacies later. For example when ranking ex-presidents historians usually wait until a decade or so after they're out of office.
Luckily we're discussing legacies and not Olympic golds or number of competitions won. I think given that it is quite easy to distinguish S/Z from T/M. Sorry T/M fans but much like the current T/M this was a charisma-less team with great skating skills. S/Z were a team who captured and moved people. Folks are still looking back at their programs and trying to capture that magic. Not so much for T/M.
I think you're going too far down the slippery slope. Even if we are to include all of the ice dance teams you mentioned (and I wouldn't) that's still just a handful of teams over the years. Now if we wanted to make a Mount Rushmore of teams (pick the four most iconic) that would be a more difficult exercise. (My list would be M/M, T/D, K/P, and V/M--- I really don't care that G/P won two gold medals :dev2.
1994 Where have all the flowers gone was special for me.