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Known for his innovative footwork sequences, Scott Hamilton is a retired figure skater, credited with imbibing an air of athleticism into men’s figure skating. Henie’s unprecedented three Olympic gold medals have not been matched by any ladies’ single skater since, nor have her achievements as ten-time consecutive World champion. While Irina Slutskaya of Russia has held the record for most European titles among ladies’ skaters since 2006, Henie still retains the record of most consecutive titles, sharing it with Katarina Witt of East Germany/Germany (1983–1988). These are the greats of ladies’ single skating, the American women who have stolen hearts and entertained millions. This list includes the ultimate American figure skating females from the past and present, including those who left their legacies decades ago to those who are still writing their figure skating histories. What is it about figure skaters that make them so entertaining to watch?
Championships, and again in 2002—the same year she finished fourth at the Olympics. That kicked off a years-long career of winning worldwide competitions, including everything from Skate Canada to Trophée Eric Bompard to the Grand Prix Final. In 2006, her Olympic dreams came true and she went home with a silver medal. In 1998, Tara Lipinski made history after becoming the youngest female in her sport to win a gold medal at just 15 years old. Not long after, she decided to turn professional to spend more time with her family. Sustaining a hip injury didn’t stop her from having a successful career in the years following the Olympics, as both an author and member of Stars on Ice.
1928, ’32, ’36 Games: Sonja Henie, 3-Time Gold Medalist
Smith prefers skating with both girls and guys, reveling in the encouragement and push that they give to one another to go bigger and better. She’s one of the strongest all-around female skaters and has competed in numerous competitions of varying styles. Historically, the skateboarding scene has been significantly male-dominated. But since the 1960s, women have been paving the way for the next generation of female skaters, showing younger counterparts the confidence that a board can bring.
For years Button was a staple as a television analyst, most notably for ABC. In 1994, Witt made a comeback to the competitive-skating scene, coached again by Jutta Müller. She was expected to be in a fierce three-person fight for only two spots on the German Olympic team with both young rising star Tanja Szewczenko and veteran Marina Kielmann, who was almost the same age as Witt. She finished second at the German Championships behind Szewczenko, but above Kielmann. She and Szewczenko thus gained the two available spots ahead of Kielmann for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, where she finished seventh. In a dramatic buildup, she would also draw last to skate, and get to close the show in her final Olympic skate, after the medalists had already been determined.
Female Figure Skaters
Four years later, one of the country’s most popular athletes at the time, stepped up her game and won gold at the Squaw Valley Olympics. In addition to her Olympic success, Heiss finished famous female ice skaters names first five times at the world championships ( ). Sasha Cohen began figure skating when she was just 7 years old, and it quickly became clear that she had a special talent.
She is one of the best athletes who knew how to merge it with gracefulness ensuring her success and making her the first female skater to execute the double axle. She has a 1960 gold medal and the 1956 silver medal, together with their five World Championships, in her cabinet. She is one of the best Russian female figure skaters to grace the stage. She is widely known for her overwhelming tribute to her late husband, who also doubled up as her partner, Sergei Grinkov.
Men’s singles
At those Worlds, she did win the long program over Thomas’s clean skate with identical content, scoring two 6.0s for artistic impression, but a combination miss which left her 4th in the short cost her the gold. This was also the first time since 1980 she would lose the short program phase at a World Championship. To win, she would have needed the final skater, Chin, to place between her and Thomas in the long program, but this did not occur. She had been considering making the 1986 World Championships her final event, but stung by the loss, Witt vowed to regain her title and skate on to Calgary. The famous female ice skaters include everyone from Yuna Kim to Tonya Harding.
- As a wealthy celebrity, she moved in the same social circles as royalty and heads of state and made Hitler’s acquaintance as a matter of course.
- In 2013, she appeared on season 16 of Dancing with the Stars, but had to withdraw because of an injury.
- That is exactly what female skateboarders have been doing for decades — and we’re lucky enough to witness some of the absolute best of all time in our generation.
- She’s seen skateboarding transform throughout her career, and her creativity and unwavering passion have come together through her love and nostalgia for skating.
- The judges left room for Chin to win the long program and event, but unfortunately she fell on a double axel and did not complete a triple salchow in her performance, settling for the bronze medal.
More recently, McGee was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, the first female to achieve such an honor. In some studies throughout the same decade, demographic characteristics reflect limited diversity — one such study revealed that 90% of its participants were male, leaving room for females at only 10% capacity.
Featuring your favorite 80s, 90s, and current stars of women’s figure skating, this list has Olympic skaters, American skaters, professional ladies of ice dancing, and gold medal winners of history. At the tender age of 12, the Japanese legend became the only woman to execute triple combination skating successfully. She also won the World Championship in 1989 and another silver medal in 1992. She is one of the few black female figure skaters to grace the stage. The French star has multiple accolades to her name, including five-time European Champion, three-time World silver medalist and a world junior championship. These famous female figure skaters have truly left their mark on the world of figure skating — whether recently, or during the early days of the sport.
- Plushenko also brought home the silver medal at the 2002 and ’10 Winter Games.
- The eventual winner of the competition was Elaine Zayak, who landed six triples.
- The American boasts two World Championships and a US Championship, pitting her as one of the most successful US figure skaters.
- After her Olympic win, Dorothy produced and starred in several ice shows, including Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Romeo and Juliet—which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award.
- State Department adviser, and was also on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign staff.
- She won six consecutive European Championships (1983–1988), a feat only equalled by Sonja Henie among female skaters.
- After the success of her first film, One in a Million (1936), Henie’s position was assured and she became increasingly demanding in her business dealings with Zanuck.
Bufoni may have been the only girl skating in her neighborhood, but, by 2017, she was officially a professional skateboarder sponsored by Plan B Skateboards. She’s already accomplished many “firsts,” including being the first woman on the cover of The Skateboard Mag and the first woman signed to the Nike SB team. It’s not that women haven’t long been taking surfboards to the streets — the first female professional skateboarder was Patti McGee way back in 1964.
Early life
List of famous figure skaters, both current and historical, with photos, bios, and other information when available. This includes the most prominent figure skaters, living and dead, both in America and abroad. This list of notable figure skaters is ordered by their level of prominence, and can be sorted for various bits of information, such as where these https://accounting-services.net/accrued-expenses-recognize-expenses-incurred/ historic figure skaters were born and what their nationality is. The people on this list are from different countries, but what they all have in common is that they’re all renowned figure skaters. In an epic showdown in Calgary, Canada, 22-year-old Katarina Witt of East Germany—the 1984 figure skating gold medalist—faced 20-year-old American Debi Thomas.
